History ComicBook / XForce

* AllTheMyriadWays: Deadpool makes it quite clear to Dark Beast that he doesn't give a shit about his "stupid fake world".
** AoA!Nightcrawler will cheerfully trade the future of the mainstream Marvel Universe for revenge against the man who killed his wife.

The original X-Force was created when RobLiefeld and Fabian Nicieza were given control of the NewMutants book and made it DarkerAndEdgier. Adding several [[BadAss badasses]] and making them more of an "ends justify the means" group, they became a militant strike force very different in attitude from the X-Men. The title was at first extremely popular, with the first issue becoming the #2-selling comic of all time. Liefeld however quickly became frustrated by working with characters he didn't own, and soon left Marvel to form ImageComics in 1992. Nicieza continued to write up through the ''AgeOfApocalypse'' storyline of 1995, afterwards leaving and being replaced by Jeph Loeb.

* ErasedFromExistence: [[spoiler:What the Captain Britain Corpse planned to do to Fantomex.]]

** Issue 27 is pretty bad.[[spoiler: Fantomex, dead. Gateway, dead. Ultimaton, out of control. Kid!Apocalypse, captured. The newest Brotherhood of Evil Mutants[[hottip:*:The Omega Clan, Mystique, Daken, Sabertooth, Weapon III/Skinless Man, Shadow King, and A.o.A.!Blob]] is bent on exposing the Force, and destroying them.]]

'''The Apocalypse Solution''': The first mission of the new team is an assassination job to kill Apocalypse, reborn in the form of a child and being indoctrinated by Clan Akkaba on their Moon base. [[spoiler:After defeating Apocalypse's Final Horsemen and getting to the young Apocalypse, no one on the team can summon up the courage to kill a child. When the group resigns to bring the child back with them and to reeducate him, Fantomex fires a shot in the child's head, killing him.]]

'''Deathlok Nation''': Fantomex discovers there's something wrong with the World, as a presence calling itself Weapon Infinity has started manipulating the timestream within. Fantomex is attacked by a group of Deathlok cyborgs based on the Avengers who apparently want to kill him and take possession of the World. [[spoiler:With the aid of a rogue Deathlok unit the team travels inside the World and faces Deathlok versions of themselves while Deadpool kills the architect of Weapon Infinity, the enigmatic Father, erasing the attacking Deathlok strain. The rogue Deathlok joins the team and Fantomex is revealed to be growing a clone of the child Apocalypse deep inside the World, unbeknownst to the rest of the team, watched over by Ultimaton.]]

'''The Dark Angel Saga''': Warren's "Archangel" persona continues to grow stronger, leading X-Force to seek advice from Dark Beast, a former servant of Apocalypse. The evil Dr. McCoy proposes that the team accompany him back to his lab in the alternate Age of Apocalypse universe, where he can retrieve a "seed of life" to counteract the "seed of death" that is driving Warren mad. [[spoiler:Once they reach the AoA universe, Dark Beast betrays them and cuts them off from their universe, leading X-Force to seek the help of the AoA's X-Men. They eventually acquire a new Life Seed and use Gateway to return home but discover they are too late as Archangel has completely overtaken Warren. Using the Life Seed to fuel the World, Archangel plans to extinguish all life on Earth and reset evolution, enlisting Ozymandias, Dark Beast, the Final Horsemen, Autumn Rolfson and her son Genocide, as well as the AoA Iceman and Blob in his army. X-Force is initially outmatched until the timely arrival of the AoA X-Men evens the odds, while Fantomex reluctantly releases the young clone of Apocalypse to fight Archangel. Although the clone (now calling himself "Genesis") is unable to defeat him, the fight gives Psylocke an opening to stab Archangel with the Life Seed, killing him. Warren later appears, seemingly fine, but it soon becomes clear the Life Seed removed any trace of both Archangel and Warren inside him.]]

'''Otherworld''': Fantomex is abducted by Captain Britain and the Captain Britain Corps to be put on trial in Otherworld for his murder of the Apocalypse child. Psylocke is also abducted. Wolverine, Deadpool and the Age of Apocalypse version of Nightcrawler attempt to rescue them both but land in the middle of a battle against a demon which wishes to access the base of the Captain Britain Corps so that it can spread its influence across the multiverse. [[spoiler:When Fantomex is sentenced to death, Psylocke saves him and betrays her brothers. However they are then ambushed by a man known as the Skinlessman, who seeks vengeance against Fantomex after he was flayed alive due to Fantomex's thieving. He cuts off Fantomex's face but is stopped by Psylocke; eventually it is revealed that the demon is a future incarnation of Jamie Braddock and Psylocke is forced to kill him in cold blood to prevent his demonic ascension.]]

'''Final Execution''': [[spoiler:When Daken returns from the dead, he plots to destroy X-Force by creating a new incarnation of the Brotherhood of Mutants with Mystique, Sabretooth, the Skinless Man, the Blob of Age of Apocalypse, the Shadow King, and the Omega Clan. In their first attack, they capture Genesis (Evan) in to make him the new Apocalypse. They then ambush X-Force, the Skinless Man kills Fantomex (tearing his heart out), destroys Cavern X, and kills Gateway. As his last act, he saves X-Force by teleporting them to a dystopian world ruled by X-Force, whose policy of killing threats before they can harm anyone - they now kill innocents who have a possibility of becoming criminals. Horrified, Psylocke attempts seppuku but is saved by the future version of herself. Upon X-Force's return to the present, they capture Mystique and argue over whether or not to kill Evan. During the commotion, Deadpool infiltrates the Brotherhood's base to try rescuing Evan but is stopped by Daken, the Blob and Omega Black; he is then brought in front of Evan and tortured by Omega Black. Meanwhile, Nightcrawler betrays X-Force to get his revenge on Blob; he incapacitates EVA (now sentient after Fantomex's death) and Wolverine. Nightcrawler kills Blob by teleporting a shark inside of him and letting it eat him from the inside out. Following this, he is confronted by EVA for his betrayal. Shadow King shatters Psylocke's mind after she refused to kill him but trapping him in the empty shell of Omega White instead. Daken tries to drown his father (the only way of killing someone with a healing factor) but Wolverine is saved by Deadpool. Deadpool tells him to stop Evan, who has donned the Apocalypse armor and is running rampant. Evan nearly kills Mystique and the Skinless Man; in retaliation for his brutal murder of Fantomex, Deadpool kills the Skinless Man. Mystique is saved by Nightcrawler, and Wolverine is forced to confront Daken as Sabretooth escapes. In the battle, he ends up drowning Daken because of a message given to him by the dystopian future version of himself – that Daken will kill the students if he is allowed to live. In the end, Deadpool tells Evan that to him, Evan is a symbol that anyone, no matter who they are, can be redeemed. Wolverine and Betsy, with EVA, head to a meeting with Deadpool, who has improperly programmed a duplication machine to bring Fantomex back to life. Because of this, Fantomex is resurrected into 3 new beings (due to his 3 brains - Jean-Philippe, an evil version of him for his evil brain, Fantomex, a mischievous but good version of him for his mischievous brain, and Cluster, a good, female version of himself for his noble brain). Psylocke pursues a relationship with Fantomex at the end of this story arc.]]

As of the Marvel NOW! launch the X-Force name is being used by two titles. ''Cable and X-Force'', which sees Cable leading a team consisting of Forge, Domino, Colossus, and Doctor Nemesis on an unknown mission of great importance, while being hunted as fugitives.

The second ''Uncanny X-Force'' series sees Psylocke leading a new group of operatives consisting of Storm, Puck, Spiral, and a new character, Cluster/Lady Fantomex.

The second major incarnation of X-Force began in 2001, continuing the same issue numbering. The new creative team of writer Peter Milligan and artist Mike Allred, after the previous creative team ended their run with the team caught in an explosion that led to the media declaring the team dead, created a new team of X-Forcers who were [[DeadStarWalking shockingly killed]] at the end of the first issue. The series continued, with a [[AnyoneCanDie famously rapid turnover of characters]], as a satirical superhero series based around the idea of second-division superheroes as vapid and self-centered celebrities out for fame, fortune and kicks. The series explained the change-over with the notion of a millionaire software king creating his own team of super-heroes, with the X-Force name being taken from the previous team without permission. Around a third of the way through the run, the title was changed to ''X-Statix'' when Cable (off-camera) sued the new team over the use of the title (in truth however, the revamp was a huge hit and Marvel wanted to cash in on it via a relaunch). Unfortunately, the relaunch came with the killing off of the book's most popular character (U-Go Girl), which became a topic of fairly frequent discussion within the story itself. Further complications involved a planned storyline involving the resurrection of Princess Di, who was changed into a pop idol when Marvel chickened out at the last minute. Sales tanked and led to the book's cancellation in late 2004. Despite the deaths of all the surviving characters in the [[KillEmAll last issue]], there was a later ''Dead Girl'' SpinOff mini-series that had many of the dead team members involved in an adventure in the [[{{Heaven}} after]] [[{{Hell}} life]] with Comicbook/DoctorStrange, satirising the DeathIsCheap nature of the Marvel universe.

* SacrificialLamb: The entire team in the first issue

'''The Apocalypse Solution''': The first mission of the new team is an assassination job to kill Apocalypse, reborn in the form of a child and being indoctrinated by Clan Akkaba on their Moon base. After defeating Apocalypse's Final Horsemen and getting to the young Apocalypse, no one on the team can summon up the courage to kill a child. When the group resigns to bring the child back with them and to reeducate him, Fantomex fires a shot in the child's head, killing him.

'''Deathlok Nation''': Fantomex discovers there's something wrong with the World, as a presence calling itself Weapon Infinity has started manipulating the timestream within. Fantomex is attacked by a group of Deathlok cyborgs based on the Avengers who apparently want to kill him and take possession of the World. With the aid of a rogue Deathlok unit the team travels inside the World and faces Deathlok versions of themselves while Deadpool kills the architect of Weapon Infinity, the enigmatic Father, erasing the attacking Deathlok strain. The rogue Deathlok joins the team and Fantomex is revealed to be growing a clone of the child Apocalypse deep inside the World, unbeknownst to the rest of the team, watched over by Ultimaton.

'''The Dark Angel Saga''': Warren's "Archangel" persona continues to grow stronger, leading X-Force to seek advice from Dark Beast, a former servant of Apocalypse. The evil Dr. McCoy proposes that the team accompany him back to his lab in the alternate Age of Apocalypse universe, where he can retrieve a "seed of life" to counteract the "seed of death" that is driving Warren mad. Once they reach the AoA universe, Dark Beast betrays them and cuts them off from their universe, leading X-Force to seek the help of the AoA's X-Men. They eventually acquire a new Life Seed and use Gateway to return home but discover they are too late as Archangel has completely overtaken Warren. Using the Life Seed to fuel the World, Archangel plans to extinguish all life on Earth and reset evolution, enlisting Ozymandias, Dark Beast, the Final Horsemen, Autumn Rolfson and her son Genocide, as well as the AoA Iceman and Blob in his army. X-Force is initially outmatched until the timely arrival of the AoA X-Men evens the odds, while Fantomex reluctantly releases the young clone of Apocalypse to fight Archangel. Although the clone (now calling himself "Genesis") is unable to defeat him, the fight gives Psylocke an opening to stab Archangel with the Life Seed, killing him. Warren later appears, seemingly fine, but it soon becomes clear the Life Seed removed any trace of both Archangel and Warren inside him.

'''Otherworld''': Fantomex is abducted by Captain Britain and the Captain Britain Corps to be put on trial in Otherworld for his murder of the Apocalypse child. Psylocke is also abducted. Wolverine, Deadpool and the Age of Apocalypse version of Nightcrawler attempt to rescue them both but land in the middle of a battle against a demon which wishes to access the base of the Captain Britain Corps so that it can spread its influence across the multiverse. When Fantomex is sentenced to death, Psylocke saves him and betrays her brothers. However they are then ambushed by a man known as the Skinlessman, who seeks vengeance against Fantomex after he was flayed alive due to Fantomex's thieving. He cuts off Fantomex's face but is stopped by Psylocke; eventually it is revealed that the demon is a future incarnation of Jamie Braddock and Psylocke is forced to kill him in cold blood to prevent his demonic ascension.

'''Final Execution''': When Daken returns from the dead, he plots to destroy X-Force by creating a new incarnation of the Brotherhood of Mutants with Mystique, Sabretooth, the Skinless Man, the Blob of Age of Apocalypse, the Shadow King, and the Omega Clan. In their first attack, they capture Genesis (Evan) in to make him the new Apocalypse. They then ambush X-Force, the Skinless Man kills Fantomex (tearing his heart out), destroys Cavern X, and kills Gateway. As his last act, he saves X-Force by teleporting them to a dystopian world ruled by X-Force, whose policy of killing threats before they can harm anyone - they now kill innocents who have a possibility of becoming criminals. Horrified, Psylocke attempts seppuku but is saved by the future version of herself. Upon X-Force's return to the present, they capture Mystique and argue over whether or not to kill Evan. During the commotion, Deadpool infiltrates the Brotherhood's base to try rescuing Evan but is stopped by Daken, the Blob and Omega Black; he is then brought in front of Evan and tortured by Omega Black. Meanwhile, Nightcrawler betrays X-Force to get his revenge on Blob; he incapacitates EVA (now sentient after Fantomex's death) and Wolverine. Nightcrawler kills Blob by teleporting a shark inside of him and letting it eat him from the inside out. Following this, he is confronted by EVA for his betrayal. Shadow King shatters Psylocke's mind after she refused to kill him but trapping him in the empty shell of Omega White instead. Daken tries to drown his father (the only way of killing someone with a healing factor) but Wolverine is saved by Deadpool. Deadpool tells him to stop Evan, who has donned the Apocalypse armor and is running rampant. Evan nearly kills Mystique and the Skinless Man; in retaliation for his brutal murder of Fantomex, Deadpool kills the Skinless Man. Mystique is saved by Nightcrawler, and Wolverine is forced to confront Daken as Sabretooth escapes. In the battle, he ends up drowning Daken because of a message given to him by the dystopian future version of himself – that Daken will kill the students if he is allowed to live. In the end, Deadpool tells Evan that to him, Evan is a symbol that anyone, no matter who they are, can be redeemed. Wolverine and Betsy, with EVA, head to a meeting with Deadpool, who has improperly programmed a duplication machine to bring Fantomex back to life. Because of this, Fantomex is resurrected into 3 new beings (due to his 3 brains - Jean-Philippe, an evil version of him for his evil brain, Fantomex, a mischievous but good version of him for his mischievous brain, and Cluster, a good, female version of himself for his noble brain). Psylocke pursues a relationship with Fantomex at the end of this story arc.

The title is currently undergoing another, albeit smaller, relaunch as the ''[[TheAdjectivalSuperhero Uncanny]] X-Force'', continuing on the work done by the previous team but with a slightly different roster consisting of Wolverine, Archangel (the only members retained from the last team) and initially adding Fantomex, Psylocke and {{Deadpool}}. Later members include Deathlok, the Age of Apocalypse Nightcrawler, and [=EVA=]. The previous team was disbanded by Cyclops, who decided they are no longer needed, this one is a result of Wolverine and Archangel thinking otherwise. As Logan states, it has only one rule: no one can know about them. While reaction to ''X-Force'' vol. 3 was decidedly mixed, ''Uncanny X-Force'' has been hailed as a modern classic.

As of the Marvel NOW! launch the X-Force name is being used by two titles. ''Cable and X-Force'', which sees Cable leading a team consisting of Forge, Domino, Colossus, and Doctor Nemesis on an unknown mission of great importance, while being hunted as fugitives. The second ''Uncanny X-Force'' series sees Psylocke leading a new group of operatives consisting of Storm, Puck, Spiral, and a new character, Cluster/Lady Fantomex.

* ItCantGetAnyWorse: Subverted; it can and it will.

* TheBlank: The villain Mr. Code had a Question-style featureless mask with a [[ScannableMan barcode printed on it]].

* {{Doorstopper}}: The 2011 omnibus collecting the ''entire series'' in a single volume is 1200 pages long, making it the longest book Marvel has ever printed (beating out the Walt Simonson Thor omnibus by a mere eight pages). It also weighs nearly eight pounds, cementing its status as a true doorstopper.

* OutOfCharacterMoment: Captain Britain. In a massive way. From wanting to wipe someone from existence to completely forgiving [[CompleteMonster his slave-trading older brother]], you have to wonder if the writer knows the character is one of the good guys.

* AnyoneCanDie: The first issue killed off [[SacrificialLamb the entire team except for]] Tike and U-Go Girl. Then new recruits Bloke and Saint Anna, then the Spike, then U-Go Girl, then the Mysterious Fanboy, then El Guapo, then Phat, until the surviving members were all killed in the last issue of X-Statix.

* BrokenPedestal: One of the later issues revealed that [[spoiler: U-Go Girl, who had been portrayed basically as TheParagon up to that point, was complacent in [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Spike Freeman]] ''[[MoralEventHorizon selling [=WMDs=] to Saddam Hussein]]'']].

X-Force has been the name of four different MarvelUniverse SuperHero teams and comics, with few common members and very little generally to link them except for being closely tied to the ComicBook/{{X-Men}}, with varying degrees of cooperation between the two at different times.

As of the Marvel NOW! the X-Force name is being used by two titles. ''Cable and X-Force'', which sees Cable leading a team consisting of Forge, Domino, Colossus, and Doctor Nemesis on an unknown mission of great importance. The second ''Uncanny X-Force'' series sees Psylocke leading a new group of killers consisting of Storm, Puck, Spiral, and a new character, Cluster/Lady Fantomex.

** SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes: Type IV.

X-Force has been the name of four different MarvelUniverse SuperHero teams and comics, with few common members and very little generally to link them except for being closely tied to the {{X-Men}}, with varying degrees of cooperation between the two at different times.

In early 2006, former ''XMenEvolution'' writing team Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost took over the teen team ''New X-Men'', bringing with them their creation Laura "{{X-23}}" Kinney. They took that team through the aftermath of the HouseOfM storyline and introduced The Purifiers, Reverand William Stryker's [[CorruptChurch fanatical mutant-hating army of followers.]] After the cancellation of ''New X-Men'', Kyle and Yost launched a third incarnation of X-Force as a black ops team sanctioned by Cyclops to combat The Purifiers in a way that the X-Men - who are trying to re-establish themselves as a respectable, law-abiding superhero team - never could. He puts {{Wolverine}} in charge of the new group, with members James "Warpath" Proudstar, X-23 and Rahne "Wolfsbane" Sinclair, and the team is soon joined by Warren "[=Angel/Archangel=]" Worthington, Neena "Domino" Thurman and Josh "Elixir" Foley. Reaction to this series was extremely mixed, with the book consistently rating in the top 30 for monthly sales, but many critics seeing it as an example of DarkerAndEdgier taken to self-parodic lengths.

* PutOnABus: [[spoiler:Angel, who goes with Genesis to the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning.]]

* ChekhovsSkill: Warpath learns the mystic Ghost Dance from GhostRider [[spoiler: in the finale for Necrosha he teaches it to the rest of X-Force so they can attack a now godlike Selene]]

* [[spoiler: EarnYourHappyEnding:]] [[spoiler: The team manages to resurrect Fantomex, Wade actually gets to be called a hero and Psylocked and Jean-Philippe get a much needed vacation. It's not a happy ending for everyone though: Wolverine needed to kill Daken, or else he would have killed all the students at the Jean Grey Institute. ]]

* VitrolicBestBuds: Deadpool and Fantomex. Each has a very low opinion of the other until the end of Deathlok Nation, where Deadpool saves Fantomex's life at the last second. During Final Execution, Fantomex admits that Deadpool's grown on him. Later, Deadpool[[spoiler: avenges Fantomex by stabbing Skinless Man through the throat.]]

* WalkingShirtlessScene: [=AoA=] Blob, unfortunately.