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1!!'''WARNING:''' There are [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers]] on these sheets for all comics before issue #1 of ''ComicBook/SinsOfSinister'' (January 2023).
2%%
3%% Please don't change the spoiler policy for this page (including the cut-off point) without discussing it on the Marvel Comics cleanup and maintenance thread:
4%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16630056830A15456800
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6
7[[WMG:[[center:[-''ComicBook/XMen'' '''[[Characters/XMen Main Character Index]]'''\
8'''The X-Men'''\
9[[Characters/XMenTheOriginalTeam The Original Team]] | [[Characters/XMen60sMembers '60s Members]] | [[Characters/XMen70sMembers '70s Members]] | [[Characters/XMen80sMembers '80s Members]] | [[Characters/XMen90sMembers '90s Members]] | [[Characters/XMen2000sMembers 2000s Members]] | [[Characters/XMen2010sMembers 2010s Members]] | [[Characters/XMen2020sMembers 2020s Members]]\
10'''Other Teams'''\
11Characters/ChildrenOfTheAtom | [[Characters/ExcaliburMarvelComics Excalibur]] | Characters/GenerationHope | Characters/GenerationX | Characters/NewMutants | Characters/NewXMenAcademyX | [[Characters/SWORDMarvelComics S.W.O.R.D.]] | Characters/XClub | Characters/XCorp | Characters/XFactor | Characters/XForce | Characters/XStatix | Characters/XTerminators\
12'''Antagonists'''\
13[[Characters/XMenRoguesGalleryAToI Rogues Gallery A To I]] | [[Characters/XMenRoguesGalleryJToR Rogues Gallery J To R]] | [[Characters/XMenRoguesGallerySToZ Rogues Gallery S to Z]] | [[Characters/XMenVillainousOrganizations Villainous Organizations]] | [[Characters/XMenAcolytes Acolytes]] | [[Characters/XMenArakko Arakko]] | [[Characters/XMenBrotherhoodOfMutants Brotherhood of Mutants]] | [[Characters/XMenClanAkkaba Clan Akkaba]] | Characters/ChildrenOfTheVault | [[Characters/XMenExternals Externals]] | '''Hellfire Club''' | [[Characters/XMenHellions The Hellions]] | [[Characters/XMenMarauders Marauders]] | [[Characters/XMenMojoverse Mojoverse]] | [[Characters/XMenMorlocks Morlocks]] | [[Characters/XMenMutantLiberationFront MLF]] | [[Characters/XMenOrchis Orchis]] | [[Characters/XMenSentinels Sentinels]]\
14'''Other Characters'''\
15[[Characters/XMenSupportingCharacters Supporting Characters]] | [[Characters/XMenMutants Mutants]] | [[Characters/XMenXavierInstitute Xavier Institute]] | [[Characters/XMenKrakoans Krakoans]] | [[Characters/MarvelComicsSavageLand The Savage Land]] | [[Characters/MarvelComicsShiar Shi'ar]] | [[{{Characters/Starjammers}} The Starjammers]] | {{Characters/NYX}} | [[{{Characters/Cable}} Cable's supporting cast]] | [[Characters/{{Deadpool}} Deadpool's supporting cast]] | [[{{Characters/Wolverine}} Wolverine's supporting cast]]-]]]]]
16
17!!The Hellfire Club
18
19[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/uncanny_x_men_vol_1_454_textless.png]]
20
21->"'Perhaps the Hellfire Club should set its sights higher -- today the X-Men; tomorrow... ComicBook/TheAvengers?"
22-->-- '''Sebastian Shaw'''
23
24What do you get when the DecadentCourt decides they want to give the world a reason to BewareTheSuperman? You get the Hellfire Club.
25
26Debuting in the pages of Creator/ChrisClaremont's ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen'', the Hellfire Club is a venerable SmokyGentlemensClub originating in 1760s England. With satellite locations all over the world, the Hellfire Club counts among its ranks some of the most powerful and influential people in the world. The rank-and-file members of the Club believe it is simply a social club, but unbeknownst to all save a chosen few the Club is actually ruled by an "Inner Circle" that rank themselves with ChessMotifs. The Inner Circle's goals took a distinctly SuperSupremacist turn in the modern day, when the mutant industrialist Sebastian Shaw and his followers pulled off TheCoup and seized control of the Club.
27
28Seeking to subvert society through PragmaticVillainy rather than outright trying to TakeOverTheWorld like Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, the Hellfire Club made their debut in a big way as the movers and shakers responsible for the corruption of ComicBook/JeanGrey, leading to her metamorphosis into Dark Phoenix and ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga. Learning from the Dark Phoenix incident that EvilIsNotAToy, the Hellfire Club took a more measured approach to their goals in the aftermath, offering memberships to ComicBook/{{Storm|MarvelComics}} and ComicBook/{{Magneto}} and for a time working with the X-Men. This period came to an abrupt end with the departure of Magneto from the Club, and shortly afterwards Shaw and the Club's remaining members fell victim to ThePurge, being killed off by a cabal of [[MakeWayForTheNewVillains new young mutants]] recruited and organized by Inner Circle member Selene.
29
30This led to the "Upstarts" era, in which said new young mutants competed amongst themselves in a DeadlyGame masterminded by Selene and arbitrated by her ally, the mutant omnipath Gamesmaster. Selene soon fell prey to this Game herself, and without her guiding influence, the Upstarts soon fell to bickering between themselves, ultimately ending their game and disbanding without any clear resolution or winner. This seemingly marked the end of the Hellfire Club... until it was revealed that Sebastian Shaw [[ComicBookDeath had in fact survived]], and through his characteristic force of personality the Hellfire Club was reconstituted and back in business.
31
32Since that time the Hellfire Club has been largely static, remaining in the background as a powerful yet passive economic force in mutant affairs. Some X-Men have joined the Club, seeking to follow Magneto's intended footsteps of turning the Club into a positive force, only to find to their belated horror that TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget. Magneto himself rejoined the Club in the pages of ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen2016'', but he was no more successful in his goals of reforming/subverting the Club than he had been before, and he departed its ranks without fanfare. With the [[FromBadToWorse increasing ostracization of mutants from human society]] and the increasing trend of [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere isolationism/separatism among mutants]], the Hellfire Club and its goals seem to have become obsolete, the product of an earlier age when mutants could still aspire to subvert the system from within.
33
34As of ''ComicBook/XMen2019'' the Hellfire Club is effectively dead, having experienced a schism that birthed two new organizations: the Hellfire Trading Company (a [[AlternateCompanyEquivalent thinly-veiled take]] on the [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean East India Trading Company]] run and staffed by most of the mutant Hellfire alumni) and Homines Verendi (yet another [[FantasticRacism mutant-hating]] group run by the {{Creepy Child}}ren who briefly turned the Club into an AcademyOfEvil while everyone of actual importance was away).
35
36For tropes related to the Film/XMenFilmSeries adaptation of the Hellfire Club, see [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesHellfireClub their page]].
37
38----
39
40[[foldercontrol]]
41
42[[folder:Tropes related to the Hellfire Club]]
43* AmbitionIsEvil: Like the Brotherhood before them, the Hellfire Club was very ambitious in its scope, and that ambition was almost always portrayed as a bad thing.
44* AncientConspiracy: A fairly young one as these things go, but they are a centuries-old organization, and they are most definitely powerful and secretive.
45* AristocratsAreEvil: The Hellfire Club's members aren't ''actually'' aristocrats (not the American or non-Western branch members at least), but they like dressing up in antiquated British aristocrat garb and referring to themselves as lords and ladies.
46* BewareTheSuperman: As a secret society of mutants who seek to subvert human society and steer it towards their own ends, they are effectively everything the various anti-mutant groups of the ''X-Men'' universe hate and fear.
47* CardCarryingVillain: Like the Brotherhood, the ''Hell''fire Club proudly codes itself in the ranks of NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast.
48* CategoryTraitor: Unlike the Brotherhood, species loyalty is not a premium virtue in the Hellfire Club, and its mutant leaders are not at all above PlayingBothSides for their own advancement.
49* ChessMotifs: The Inner Circle's members rank themselves by chess piece names. Initiates are Rooks, mid-level members are Bishops, and the leaders are a King and a Queen. There is typically a White monarchy and a Black monarchy, though some Club branches have shaken this formula up by adding a Red monarchy to the mix.
50* ComicBookFantasyCasting: Many of the Hellfire Club's original members were named for and physically modeled after various actors that Chris Claremont liked.
51* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Being one isn't a requirement for membership, but it sure does seem to help. Sebastian Shaw, Emma Frost, and Donald Pierce were all experienced corporate raiders before joining the Hellfire Club's ranks.
52* DecadentCourt: While the Club styles itself as merely a social club, behind the scenes its most powerful members scheme and jockey for power with a treachery and fervor rarely seen outside of [[Series/GameOfThrones Westeros]]. Not to mention the decadence extends to sexual depravity courtesy of the collection of DirtyOldMan members running the club with female members or employees being required to dress in fetishistic BDSM-type outfits and aspirants being suspended in cages.
53* DressedLikeADominatrix: For [[AuthorAppeal whatever reason]], their female members seem to have some rather BSDM fetishistic outfits, from Emma Frost to Selene and both Jean Grey and Madeline Pryor adopting the dress code during their time in the group.
54* EnemyMine: They are willing to enter into this with the X-Men from time to time; most notably when both groups were marked for termination by the future Sentinel Nimrod.
55* EnfanteTerrible: During a period in which the Hellfire Club's usual leaders were all either dead, MIA, or distracted with personal pursuits it was taken over by 12 year old child of privilege Kade Kilgore and his coterie of like-minded ankle-biters.
56* EnlightenedSelfInterest: Their motive (for a given value of "enlightened") whenever they help out the X-Men.
57* EqualOpportunityEvil: Mostly subverted. Unlike the Brotherhood, the Hellfire Club isn't open to just anyone, and for most people joining their ranks is merely a dream. With that said, the Club has been known to extend memberships to people it deems wealthy or influential enough to be counted among its ranks.
58* EvilCounterpart: Kade Kilgore's Hellfire Academy was this to the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, and was introduced to the narrative purely to serve that purpose.
59* FanOfThePast: According to a Claremont issue of ''New Mutants'', the outdated outfits are meant to represent a symbolic rejection of modern society and its values. At least, for the men.
60* {{Fanservice}}: Apparently a mandatory requirement of any-and-all women with the Club -- members, staffers, servants -- [[MsFanservice is to dress as Fanservice]]. The men, though, not required at all; which is for the better, [[FanDisservice considering how most of them look anyway]].
61* FantasticRacism: The Hellfire Club's original White King Ned Buckman was in league with anti-mutant scientist Steven Lang and provided funding to his Project Armageddon.
62* {{Flanderization}}: Their connection to the Phoenix tends to be exaggerated in adaptations. Their counterparts in ''WesternAnimation/{{Wolverine and the X|Men2009}}-Men'' are focused solely on obtaining the Phoenix's power, while in ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'' they are an outright cult that worships the Phoenix as some kind of pagan deity.
63* AHouseDivided: Another trope they borrow from the Brotherhood, as the inherently treacherous and self-serving nature of its elite members leads to them frequently knifing each other in the back in the pursuit of climbing to the top of their crab bucket.
64* {{Mooks}}: Continuing with their chess theme, Hellfire Club guards are typically referred to as pawns. They also have EliteMooks called Hellfire Knights.
65* PoweredArmor: Early in their history the Club tended to outfit their Knights with this. As the X-Men trounced the armor with little effort, it was quickly phased out.
66* PragmaticVillainy: Unlike the very classically supervillain Magneto and his Brotherhood, the Hellfire Club sought to gain power through more realistic avenues than TakeOverTheWorld. Typically they worked to be TheManBehindTheMan, using CorporateWarfare, WarForFunAndProfit, and various other economic means to accrue the wealth and influence they sought.
67* PrivilegeMakesYouEvil: Sebastian Shaw doesn't have this excuse, since he worked from RagsToRiches, but most of the Hellfire Club's other members, including Emma Frost, Donald Pierce, Selene, and ''especially'' the Upstarts had everything in their lives handed to them.
68* ThePurge: The Club's membership has been hit by this at least twice. The first known Purge was the handiwork of Sebastian Shaw, who along with Emma Frost killed off previous Hellfire leader Ned Buckman and his Lords Cardinal, called then the Council of the Chosen. Fittingly, Shaw was HoistByHisOwnPetard and fell victim to the Hellfire Club's second known Purge, which was carried out by the Upstarts and masterminded by Selene. Shaw, Pierce, and Emma all fell prey to the second Purge, though Emma bounced back quickly and in time Shaw and Pierce returned as well, making Selene's Purge an unequivocal failure.
69* RichBitch: Most of the Club's members, human or mutant, have this attitude.
70* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: The Club's membership is made up of some of the most powerful people in the world, and those powerful people who ''aren't'' in the Club can easily be influenced by the ones who are. Sebastian Shaw in particular was a master of this.
71* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Everyone in the Club is filthy rich and typically whenever they ran afoul of the law this is how they wriggle out of trouble.
72* ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers: This is how Shaw and his followers were able to successfully pull off TheCoup, and when their connections and their cash fail them they always have this last avenue of screwing the rules to fall back on.
73* SoLastSeason: Magneto's LoonyFan Briar Raleigh feels this way about the Club, remarking that their kinky aesthetic (women in fetishistic BDSM-type outfits, aspirants suspended in cages, etc) is too tame for her taste. She feels they all [[DisproportionateRetribution deserve to die for this]].
74* SuperiorSuccessor: Teased upon their introduction, but ultimately averted. On the face of it the Hellfire Club easily qualified as this compared to the Brotherhood, as they were far more materially accomplished, boasting all the resources one would expect TheSyndicate to bring to bear along with an influence over world affairs the Brotherhood could only clumsily grasp at. But for all of that, what the Hellfire Club ''didn't'' have was a unifying goal, existing for most of its history only to be a vehicle for its most powerful members to accomplish their (usually petty and venal) personal pursuits. Since mutant history [[YouCantFightFate inevitably leads them]] to a point where material wealth ceases to matter (roughly around the time the BadFuture becomes a bad present and the MechaMooks are marching mutants rich and poor up against the wall), the Brotherhood with its unifying goal of mutant solidarity has endured while the Hellfire Club has decayed.
75* TheSyndicate: Unlike the Brotherhood, the Hellfire Club has tons of legitimate assets in terms of both personnel and resources. They have a veritable private army of mercenaries, satellite branches all around the world, and the various holdings of its (typically fabulously wealthy) individual members.
76* TokenGoodTeammate: Aside from the many members of the Hellfire Club who are just ordinary civilians, some of its upper-level members have been outright costumed heroes. British superheroes and their families in particular often inherit membership, as is the case with ComicBook/CaptainBritain, ComicBook/{{Psylocke}}, and ComicBook/UnionJack. Other notable heroic Hellfire Club members include original ''X-Men'' member Angel and his parents, ComicBook/IronMan and his father, Night Thrasher and Justice of the ComicBook/NewWarriors, Sunspot of ComicBook/XForce, ComicBook/RachelSummers, and most recently ComicBook/GenerationX's M.
77* VillainDecay: When they were first introduced, the Hellfire Club was a GreaterScopeVillain group of a type the X-Men had never faced or even imagined facing. Several defeats and a few decades later, the Club's name has become such a joke that even rookie ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} agents like Lance Hunter crack wise (''to their faces'', no less) about how irrelevant they are.
78* WholePlotReference: The Hellfire Club's name and concept was heavily based on an organization of the same name from ''Series/TheAvengers1960s''.
79[[/folder]]
80
81!Lords Cardinal
82
83[[folder:Sebastian Shaw]]
84!!Sebastian Hiram Shaw / Black King
85%%
86%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16916145520.85794900
87%% Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.
88%%
89[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sebshaw.png]]
90%%
91!!!'''Nationality:''' American
92!!!'''Species:''' Human mutant
93!!!'''Other Ranks:''' Black Bishop, Lord Imperial
94!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''Uncanny X-Men'' #129 (1980)
95
96-> ''I didn't build a billion-dollar empire from nothing by making mistakes.''
97\
98The first seen leader of the Hellfire Club and by far its most prominent member and leader, Sebastian Shaw is a snobbish, elitist, self-centred JerkAss and CorruptCorporateExecutive with the mutant power of kinetic energy absorption, meaning that any physical attack only makes him stronger making him a very difficult opponent to defeat in combat. However, he mostly relies on manipulation, treachery, deceit, and [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney his oodles and oodles of cash]] and [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections connections]] to further his evil schemes.
99
100Besides the comics, Sebastian has appeared in two [[WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries animated]] [[WesternAnimation/WolverineAndtheXMen2009 adaptations]] of the X-Men and also appears as a boss in the first ''X-Men'' game for the [[Platform/GameGear Sega Game Gear]].
101----
102* AbnormalAmmo: As part of the X-Men and the Hellfire Club's attempt to destroy ConflictKiller Nimrod, the Hellfire Club's Black Bishop Harry Leland used his power of gravity manipulation to bring Shaw back down after Nimrod hurled him into the atmosphere. The ensuing impact was stated to have the force of a small meteor.
103* AbortedArc: There was a storyline in the 2010s where [[spoiler:Emma seemingly killed him and took his title of Black King for her own]]. This was dropped in subsequent storylines.
104* AllegoricalCharacter: If mutants represented people being hunted down and slaughtered and the Sentinels represent the oppresors slaughtering them (For example, the Nazis), then Shaw represents the people who profited from the slaughter (i.e. arms dealers, corrupt bankers and other war profiteers). He will happily sell out his fellow mutants and foot the bill for the construction of Sentinels, in order to line his own pockets.
105* AmbitionIsEvil: Shaw is a classic example of the 'American dream' route to success building himself up from rags to riches. He's also the classic example of the ItsAllAboutMe JerkAss who would fit right into the House this trope was originally named for.
106* AmnesiacVillainJoinsTheHeroes: After having his mind wiped by Emma Frost, an amnesiac Shaw wandered his way to Utopia and formed an OddFriendship with Hope Summers. It didn't last, sadly.
107* ArchnemesisDad: A case of AbusiveParents between him and his son Shinobi.
108* AristocratsAreEvil: His Hellfire Club is an entire organization devoted to this, and as its head Shaw does his very best to set an (evil) example.
109* ArmsDealer: Shaw Industries specializes in MechaMooks.
110%% * BadassInANiceSuit: The 19th century version, at least.
111* BaddieFlattery: Expresses roughly these sentiments towards Irene Merryweather, the plucky reporter who risked her life repeatedly investigating his personal history in the ''X-Men: Hellfire Club'' miniseries. After giving her a personal explanation, Shaw extends Merryweather a rare invitation to join the Club. [[spoiler:She throws it in the fire, of course.]]
112* BigBadWannabe: A high-functioning example; he was and remains a serious threat, but in practice he is usually outplayed and manipulated by more cunning and dangerous villains. He frequently teams up with other ''X-Men'' rogues but is usually either double-crossed, or his own double-crossing comes back to bite him.
113* CapitalismIsBad: His response to being welcomed into the leadership of the Eden-esque utopia of Krakoa is to start reciting off a laundry list of capitalist policies he likes and wants to introduce. He's immediately rebuked by Cypher, who speaks on behalf of Krakoa itself.
114* ChessMotifs: His Hellfire Club rank is 'Black King' and the rest of the Club uses chess piece names for their ranks as well (Bishop, Rook, etc).
115* ComicBookFantasyCasting: His appearance and last name is taken from actor Creator/RobertShaw.
116* CooperationGambit: His clear motive in joining up with Krakoa, as unlike HazyFeelTurn candidates like Exodus and Apocalypse, Shaw doesn't even bother pretending to have renounced any of his former beliefs. He's just doing what he's always done, signing up for what looks like the winning side, and everyone around him clearly knows it but tolerates it because he's a strong and forceful enough leader in the mutant community to merit a place at the table.
117* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Runs his own company, Shaw Industries, that's best known for [[PlayingBothSides mass-producing]] [[MechaMooks Sentinels]].
118* DeathIsCheap: He was assassinated by his son Shinobi in 1991, but five years later was revealed to have survived the attempt. It helps that it wasn't a very ''good'' attempt.
119** Two decades later Sebastian met a second death at the hands of [[spoiler:Emma Frost]]. He showed up none the worse for wear in ''House of X'', and even shares a seat right next to his would-be murderer on Krakoa's 'Quiet Council'.
120* DeadlyUpgrade: When infected with the Mothervine virus, Shaw acquired the ability to absorb ambient energy around him and release it as blasts of energy, upgrading him to the power level of his adaptational counterpart from ''Film/XMenFirstClass''. Unfortunately for Shaw, the tradeoff for his new powers were that they were now CastFromHitPoints, not unlike those of Selene.
121* EasyAmnesia: A story arc in the early 2010s had him lose most of his memories. ComicBook/HopeSummers argues for letting him stay on Utopia because AmnesiacsAreInnocent.
122* EnemyMine: In the epilogue of the ''Acts of Vengeance'' crossover, Shaw ended up helping ComicBook/SpiderMan when ComicBook/{{Loki}} combined three of his Sentinels into the Tri-Sentinel, and sent it to try and trigger a nuclear disaster.
123* EnergyAbsorption: His {{Mutant|s}} power is this, allowing him to absorb kinetic energy and convert it into strength. Getting in a fistfight with him is a ''very'' bad idea, as he'll just get stronger the longer the fight goes on.
124* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Lourdes Chantel, his fiancé. Her death is treated as his StartOfDarkness.
125* EvilMentor: [[RetCon Retconned]] into being one for the White Queen/Emma Frost. Note that originally they were very much depicted as partners in crime.
126* FakingTheDead: Through most of TheNineties.
127* FeedItWithFire: He absorbs energy from attacks. There is a limit to how much he can absorb, but it takes a ''lot'' to reach it.
128* TheFriendNobodyLikes: As a member of Krakoa's Quiet Council in ''ComicBook/XMen2019''. Though ostensibly on the side of the heroes now, no one particular likes him, not even the other council members, and through his interactions with them it's made clear he's only kept around because his ruthless self-interest brings a necessary perspective to the group.
129* GeniusBruiser: When it comes to the cutthroat business world Shaw is a savant without peer. Flashbacks reveal that in his youth he had even greater potential, immersing himself in his studies as a way to escape poverty and "soaking up knowledge like a sponge".
130* GoodScarsEvilScars: He bore a prominent scar across his right eye during the latter half of the 90s; Madelyne Pryor eventually healed it as a demonstration of what she could offer him in a VillainTeamUp.
131* TheHedonist: A mild example, but Shaw is very much a RichBitch who enjoys living large and has no problems with letting anyone know it.
132* HoistByHisOwnPetard: He decides to sell out Krakoa to Orchis. [[spoiler:As a symbol of faith he happily takes an injection to give up his mutant abilities. Then it turns out that he owns Krakoa, but not it's financial resources. He gets kicked out of the Hellfire club, as it's new White King and leader (Wilson "Kingpin" Fisk) is on Krakoa's side and working with Emma Frost. Shaw then tries to establish a beachhead on Krakoa, but it's full of monsters controlled by Xavier and he constantly orders them to kick Orchis' soldiers off the island. He sold out Krakoa and the only thing that came out of it were the removal of his powers and loss of his Hellfire Club status]].
133* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Judgment Day all but spelled this out. For all of his arrogance and acting like an aristocrat, Shaw ultimately still feels like he has something to prove to both his dead father and Emma Frost. When the Progenitor Celestial judges him, it's as Frost. Emma manages to make more of an impact on mutantkind and the world than he does and she does it without selling her soul.
134* ItsAllAboutMe: He not only believes this, but wears it like a badge of honor. When he teams up with the X-Men against Mr. Sinister (who was a potential GrandTheftMe threat to Shaw at the time) he flatly tells the heroes he's not helping them out of any moral obligation, but just because he's an egotist who can't bear the idea of someone hijacking ''his'' body.
135* KingIncognito: Like Nightcrawler, he sometimes carries a holographic image inducer for when he wants to move around in public unseen.
136* LimitBreak: Averted. Being an Alpha-level mutant, Shaw is powerful, but there is a defined limit to his power. Unlike Vulcan, a similar energy absorber who can use EnergyAbsorption on an unlimited scale, Shaw has a limit to the amount of energy he can absorb, and once someone pushes him to that limit he has no way of breaking past it.
137* LogicalWeakness: Shaw derives energy from any form of energy used against him, so any attack using ice and cold, which are essentially ''removing'' thermal energy will work against him.
138* MakeWayForTheNewVillains: Back in the 90s, Shaw was one of many older villains to be bumped off by the new guard in the name of establishing their cred -- in his case, it was his son Shinobi who did the deed. [[spoiler:He eventually came back, but it took seven years and he sported a very prominent scar upon his return.]]
139* ManipulativeBastard: A fairly limp example, and really more a case of TheCorrupter, as Shaw's main M.O. is to appeal to people's greed and vanity when trying to get them to join up with him. He tends to just [[EvilCannotComprehendGood automatically assume everyone is as self-serving as he is]], which works for him every now and then, but usually doesn't.
140* NiceJobFixingItVillain: During the ''Acts of Vengeance'' epilogue. In an attempt to cut off Spider-Man from the strange new powers he had been recently manifesting, he inadvertently reversed the effect that had been blocking those powers from fully transferring to Spidey, allowing him to complete his transformation into ComicBook/CaptainUniverse.
141* NighInvulnerability: A more complex example than most. Shaw is not ''himself'' invulnerable, but his mutant ability renders him pretty much impervious to physical attacks of any kind.
142* NoHeroToHisValet: Late in the original ''X-Force'' run Shaw is shown walking with his personal assistant, who is trying to coordinate a festival on his behalf. After a couple of panels of getting ignored, said assistant makes the mistake of getting frustrated and asking Shaw if he's even the least bit interested in what he was saying. Shaw's response?
143--> '''Sebastian Shaw:''' No, Carmen, not especially. [[DisproportionateRetribution Now be a dear and throw yourself off a cliff for raising your voice to me]], that'll be all.
144* NonIdleRich: Despite being a member of the Fiction500 Shaw is never the type to rest on his laurels.
145* OffingTheOffspring: Confirmed in ''Necrosha'' for ordering the off-screen death of his son Shinobi.
146* ThePeepingTom: It's revealed by Emma Frost that Shaw built the New York Branch Hellfire Club buildings "with all of his personal kinks and perversions in mind." Naturally, this includes secret hallways and portholes to play voyeur with.
147* PersonalityPowers: Shaw is, for better or worse, is a {{Determinator}} who never gives up and has built his iron will over a lifetime of climbing from RagsToRiches. Fittingly, his mutant power reflects his willpower: any (physical) thing thrown at him just makes him stronger. Given the Hellfire Club's [[BondageIsBad kinky aesthetic]] on top of this power, Shaw's sometimes been presented as a CombatSadomasochist, or even TooKinkyToTorture.
148* PhlebotinumOverload: Shaw's kinetic energy absorption ability is powerful, but it can be circumvented if one drops something on him quick and hard enough. There was also the time when Wolverine just kept coming at him until Shaw's mass caused the floor to give out under him.
149* PlayingBothSides: The biggest and worst example is that he is a mutant, yet he funded and helped to construct the mutant-hunting Sentinels. Especially bad (though poetically ironic) considering they were created out of fear that mutants could be people like '''him.'''
150* PragmaticVillainy: Probably the most stark example among X-villains -- Shaw is kind of like the Donald Trump of evil mutants, having no higher belief or creed in ''anything'' beyond what's good for Sebastian Shaw. This utterly self-serving nature makes Shaw fairly resilient in coming back from his various defeats, but it also means there's no one that's ever really had any loyalty for him and his subordinates tend to sell him out or betray him at the drop of a hat.
151* PuzzleBoss: Arguably an ''in-universe'' example. Shaw simply cannot be defeated by mere force, which forces the heroes to get creative whenever they have to fight him.
152* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney, [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers Powers]], & [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections Connections]]
153* SelfMadeMan: The ''X-Men: Hellfire Club'' miniseries fleshed out his background. Kind of like [[Literature/HarryPotter Tom Riddle]], Sebastian was the son of a family long past its glory days who took the traditional 'American dream' route to success and [[AmbitionIsEvil got corrupted along the way]].
154* ShoutOut: Like most of the first gen Hellfire Club villains, Shaw's appearance and name were based off an actor; in his case, the British-born Robert Shaw.
155** Chris Claremont knew of a British film, ''Film/ItHappenedHere'', which had an actor named Sebastian Shaw, and also based the character's name off that.[[note]]The actor Sebastian Shaw would happen to have a brief but very significant [[Characters/StarWarsDarthVaderAndServants film role]] a [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi few years later]].[[/note]]
156* TheSleepless: When he is charged with energy, he doesn't have to sleep until the energy is used up.
157* SuperSpeed: Not seen as much as his other uses of his ability, and not anywhere near Franchise/TheFlash levels, but Shaw surprises people with this from time to time.
158* SuperStrength: The primary offensive use of his mutant power. By converting kinetic energy into strength, Shaw can theoretically mix it up with anybody short of Apocalypse or the Hulk.
159* ATwinkleInTheSky: He was once thrown so hard by Nimrod that he actually went into low orbit. Fortunately for him, Harry Leland was able to bring him back down before he suffocated.
160* TookALevelInJerkass: Not that Shaw wasn't already a {{Jerkass}} to begin with, but the few positive traits he did possess have been steadily downplayed or phased out with time, to the point that in modern stories the character is basically a one-dimensional HateSink. A good example of this is the RetCon of Lourdes Chantel, originally his MoralityPet whose death was his StartOfDarkness. Come ComicBook/HouseAndPowersOfX it was revealed that not only was Lourdes not dead at all, but that she had faked her death in order to get away from Shaw who had been violently abusing her the whole time. His relationship with Emma Frost is another example: originally they were written as partners in crime but in modern stories Shaw is depicted as Emma's EvilMentor as a way to absolve and whitewash her of her own villainous past.
161* VillainDecay: Shaw's competence and threat both took a sharp nosedive around the 2010s and he's been in freefall ever since. Formerly a competent schemer, every single plan he has attempted in modern day stories was effortlessly thwarted, and frequently he has been subjected to HumiliationConga incidents for the pleasure of some adversarial female character (Emma Frost most usually, though Kitty Pryde has also enjoyed humiliating Shaw). Despite holding a seat on the Quiet Council, he exercises no real power of his own and only seems to be there for Emma to exert her dominance over. At least he has breweries of wine artificially aged by TimeMaster mutants to drown his sorrows with.
162* VillainTeamUp: Being the [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatic villain]] he is, Shaw frequently forges alliances with other villains such as Holocaust and Madelyne Pryor.
163* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Not as much as before (when he could count on the police to help him fight those [[ManipulativeBastard dangerous mutants]] [[HeroWithBadPublicity the X-Men]]), but he still has no criminal record and has managed to keep his more questionable activities away from the public eye.
164* WarForFunAndProfit: The classic arms dealer war profiteer PlayingBothSides for his own advancement. Depending on the adaptation, sometimes it comes back to bite him.
165* WeCanRuleTogether: Him and Madelyne Pryor had a brief fling that ended up turning into an AbortedArc when she abruptly ditched him.
166* WouldntHurtAChild: After moderately recovering from a bout of amnesia, he has genuine distaste at the thought being able to hurt children at the Avengers Academy.
167[[/folder]]
168
169[[folder:Emma Frost]]
170!!Emma Frost / White Queen
171[[quoteright:189:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/emma_frost.jpg]]
172!!!'''Other Ranks:''' Queen of Crystal Heart, Black Queen, [[spoiler:Black King IV]]
173!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''Uncanny X-Men'' #129 (1980)
174
175-> ''You'll all be guests of the Hellfire Club -- for the rest of your natural lives!''
176\
177The second-most prominent Hellfire Club member and the first face that comes in mind when the "White Queen" title comes up. Introduced as the Hellfire Club's White Queen, Emma Frost spent years as one of the X-Men's most prominent villainesses before her intensely pragmatic and self-serving nature led her to the logical conclusion that it was more in her interest to side with the X-Men than against them.
178----
179-> See [[Characters/MarvelComicsEmmaFrost Emma Frost]]
180[[/folder]]
181
182[[folder:Jean Grey]]
183!!Jean Grey / Black Queen I / The Phoenix Force
184[[quoteright:198:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jean_grey_black_queen.jpg]]
185!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''X-Men'' #1 (1963, original), ''Uncanny X-Men'' #132 (1980, as the Black Queen)
186-> ''Worry not, Jason. Had the Black Queen struck to kill, there would be nothing left of the lad but ashes.''
187\
188A supremely powerful telepath and one of the original five X-Men, Jean Grey, then imbued with the Phoenix Force, found her SuperpoweredEvilSide in the Hellfire Club thanks to the corrupting influence of probationary member Jason Wyngarde (who was actually the longtime ''X-Men'' foe Mastermind), who sought to mold Jean into the Black Queen through MoreThanMindControl in a bid to seize control of the Club for himself. Jean's time as the Black Queen was brief, as Mastermind could not control a mutant of her stature for long. After her death, she was retconned into having been dopplegänger created by the Phoenix Force, while the actual Jean lay dormant in a healing cocoon.
189----
190-> See [[Characters/MarvelComicsJeanGrey her own page]].
191[[/folder]]
192
193[[folder:Selene]]
194!!Selene Gallio / Black Queen II
195%%
196%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16916145520.85794900
197%% Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.
198%%
199[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xmenselene.png]]
200!!!'''Aliases:''' Black Priestess, Lady Selene, Moon Goddess
201!!!'''Species:''' Human mutant
202!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''New Mutants'' #9 (1983)
203
204-> ''I am Selene, daughter of the moon and mistress of the fire. Come, children, give yourselves to me.''
205\
206The second and by far more prominent Black Queen of the Hellfire Club, Selene is the oldest known living mutant (after she killed the other Externals), born over 17,000 years ago, [[Creator/RobertEHoward after the fall of]] [[Literature/{{Kull}} Atlantis]], but before the age of Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian, and is an ancient enemy of [[Comicbook/RedSonja Kulan Gath]]. She doubles as a sorceress and psychic vampire, with a myriad abilities, some of which are magic, some of which are genetic. Regal, vain, manipulative, demonic-level pure evil, and extremely hard to permanently get rid of, she is one of the X-Men's most dangerous adversaries.
207----
208* AchillesHeel: Her extreme arrogance and vanity, as well as some well-hidden but deep-seated insecurity about the possibility that she may not be able to stave off aging forever. Moonstar took advantage of this and projected an image of her as a hideous old hag that proceeded to warn her that she could only stave off aging for so long before her powers stopped being effective, which caused Selene to have a crippling panic attack.
209* AdaptationalWimp: The adaptational counterpart of Selene that appears in ''Film/DarkPhoenix'' is this, due to pretty much just being Selene InNameOnly.
210* AmbiguouslyBi: She isn't openly bisexual and is in fact a widow of a man named Marcus Gallio. But she also possesses some amount of LesbianVampire traits.
211* ArchEnemy: Initially paired up as one for Rachel Summers, until Rachel was utterly [[SpotlightStealingSquad eclipsed in appearances]] by ComicBook/EmmaFrost. She was then redesigned as something of a {{Foil}} to Emma, but still has the odd clash with Rachel every now and again.
212* AssholeVictim: In the 90s, when she was betrayed by the Upstarts, a group of wealthy young mutants Selene had been grooming to be the next generation of the Hellfire Club. Upstart Trevor Fitzroy trapped her in a device that [[AndIMustScream systematically disassembled and reassembled her molecular structure]], a sickening fate for just about anyone else but somehow appropriate for an immortal predator like Selene.
213* AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance: She embodies the EvilWearsBlack trope to such an extent that she never wore anything else but black outfits from the get-go, even after leaving the Hellfire Club. (It can be a little odd to read her first appearances, where- besides being married to a Nova Roman senator- she wore green, purple, and blue.)
214* ActuallyADoombot: Though not a particularly convincing one -- a [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever giant Selene robot]] appears as a boss in the 1992 video game ''VideoGame/SpiderManAndTheXMenInArcadesRevenge''.
215* BackFromTheDead: Resurrected by [[spoiler: Arkea in ''X-Men'' (2013) series]]. She's resurrected again by [[spoiler:Mother Righteous and Doctor Stasis in ''[[ComicBook/XMenBeforeTheFall The Sinister Four]]'']], and by that point she seems to have a very casual, DeathIsCheap attitude about it all.
216* BadBoss: Naturally. Selene is not remotely above snacking on her own underlings if a fight starts draining her.
217* BadPowersBadPeople: Her power is the ability to completely drain the life force out of people. At no point in her long lifespan has she ever thought to get this fixed, because she enjoys the sensation and couldn't give a rat's ass about other people.
218* BigBad: She was one of the major villains in the original New Mutants run and it took a long, ''long'' time, but Selene finally got her due as a BigBad again in the ''Necrosha'' story arc.
219* BigBadWannabe: What she is in function most of the time, thanks to her EvilIsPetty nature detailed further below and her lack of fortitude compared to the more usual Big Bad-level characters like Magneto, Apocalypse, etc.
220* BondageIsBad: Being a Creator/ChrisClaremont character, the Black Queen's always had a certain element of fetish to her.
221* BrainwashedAndCrazy: The usual result of her TheCorrupter antics, and anything involving Selene will probably involve a case of this at some point.
222* BurnTheWitch: Attempted by the senators of AncientRome after they discovered her plan to sacrifice the whole city's population to herself. Unfortunately for them PlayingWithFire was one of her powers and she merely turned the flames back on them.
223* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Averted. She absorbs memories along with life force, and therefore does not forget her victims. Not that it makes her [[LackOfEmpathy care more about them...]]
224* CastFromHitPoints: Some of power powers come at the expense of her life energy, which is just as well, because she has the power to drain it from others.
225* ChessMotifs: Played with. She took the rank of 'Black Queen' in the Hellfire Club but had been styling herself as a queen ''long'' before the Club, or even chess itself, ever existed.
226* CoDragons: In the 80s, she and White Queen Emma Frost were [[TheDragon the dragons]] to Sebastian Shaw. They both had more formidable powers than his own, but they typically followed his plans.
227* CombatPragmatist: Selene isn't above fighting dirty. After getting knocked on her butt from getting initially outfought by Captain America, she came out swinging against him when he told her to get up. Poor Steve ate the following combo: first she raked him hard in the face with her fingernails, then she got on his back and bit deep in his neck, and finally she [=KO'ed=] him with a kick to the head. That would have been the 2nd Steve Rogers she killed if his friends didn't intervene.
228* ComboPlatterPowers: In addition to being a mutant, Selene is also skilled in FunctionalMagic, and it's noy always clear which of her abilities are which. She can animate objects and drain people's life force to feed her youth and immortality, some degree of PsychicPowers and and various inconsistently enhanced physical abilities). Until she got upgraded; as of Chasing Hellfire, it's "turn into living shadow, plus absorb people entirely to feed her youth and immortality, as well as take on the form of her victims.
229* ContinuitySnarl: Her home of Nova Roma and relationship with the New Mutant Magma are both tangled in one of these. As written by her creator Creator/ChrisClaremont, Nova Roma was a lost Roman colony and Magma was her granddaughter. Then Fabian Nicieza came along with retcons that Nova Roma was not ancient but merely a sham city populated by people Selene had brainwashed, and Magma was in fact a British mutant named Allison Crestmere with no relationship to Selene. The two camps have gone back and forth over this, to the extent that modern Selene stories tend to ignore both Nova Roma and Magma entirely due to the continuity being such a mess.
230* TheCorrupter: This is pretty much her shtick, as she frequently seeks out innocent and/or impressionable young mutants to turn to her side through various means. Sometimes this works out for her, sometimes it doesn't. But she ''always'' gets off on it.
231* CruelMercy: What she subjects the Roman senator Eliphas to as his punishment for "betraying her". She saves him from a death of being burned at the stake, but then transforms him into an undying vampire-like creature because she knows the worst fate he can imagine is an eternity without her. Then she [[BuriedAlive buries him alive]].
232* {{Cult}}: She ran a cult on behalf of the Power Elite which was one reason why she faced Captain America.
233* DeathIsCheap: In her first appearance, Sunspot dunked her in a lava pit, although he figured it might not kill her. During Chris Claremont's second run on Uncanny X-Men, she was apparently vaporised by Rachel. She was killed off at the conclusion of ''Necrosha'', but resurrected again. And then she was killed off by Hope and Exodus in an early issue of ''ComicBook/ImmortalXMen'', only to be resurrected yet again. By that point she's got a pretty casual attitude to her own life and death.
234-->'''Selene:''' I would have made my own way back eventually. It does a girl good to lie down now and then. You don't keep this flawless complexion just from devouring the innocent. But thank you, I suppose.
235* DisproportionateRetribution: In the Krakoa era she reacted to losing a seat on the Quiet Council to Hope Summers by summoning a giant bug monster to destroy the island, despite Xavier having just approached her to express his dissatisfaction with the decision and even an offer of partnership.
236* DragonWithAnAgenda: Naturally, Selene is only in it for herself; in the 80s, when she was TheDragon to Shaw, Magneto usurped the Hellfire Club, and Selene wasted no time in siding with Mags.
237* EnemyMine: In ''New Mutants Forever'', Selene teams up with the New Mutants to save Nova Roma from the Red Skull.
238* EvenEvilHasStandards: Statutory rape, apparently, given that she explicitly notes Wither to be of age before she starts seducing him. Still some epic cradle-robbing, though, as she's close to ''1000 times'' his age. The ComicBook/RedSkull is also too evil for her, as she teamed up with the New Mutants once against him.
239* EvilIsPetty: Going hand-in-hand with ImmortalImmaturity, Selene is all too happy to waste her time on small-scale petty and vindictive acts and overgrown teenage mean girl antics. While she certainly has the power, intelligence, and connections to act on a far larger scale if she wanted to, she appears to be much happier engaging in DecadentCourt power games, pointless [[TheCorruptor grooming of vulnerable young mutants]], and general petty cruelty.
240* EvilVersusEvil: Once got into a fight with the Red Skull's crew shortly after ''Acts of Vengeance''. They were looking for Skull and figured the Hellfire Club knew where their boss. Selene didn't know what they were after, and didn't care. They were simply on her turf. Fight ended on a no-score draw.
241* EvilWearsBlack: What else would you expect from the [[{{Pun}} ''Black Queen'']]?
242* EvilerThanThou: What she did to pre-HeelFaceTurn ComicBook/EmmaFrost and her Hellions by using Fitzroy, or to [[spoiler: Eli Bard]], among others. She also subjected the Externals to this during the Great External Purge.
243** UXM #191 saw Selene get a taste of her own medicine when her ancient foe Kulan Gath subjected her to this, using his magic to inflict [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1MfDW2Lz_cw/UACZviq06TI/AAAAAAAABh0/aiiXHS_bEGY/s1600/X-MEN191_04a.jpg a truly horrific case]] of BodyHorror on her.
244* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: Completely averted and inverted at the same time. No man is responsible for making Selene the bitch that she is, she has always been a bitch, in fact she thrives on it. So much indeed that [[TheCorruptor corrupting naïve younger men is one of her favourite hobbies]].
245* {{Foil}}: To Emma Frost, during their time in Hellfire. Now, she's more of an EvilCounterpart.
246* ForTheEvulz: Doubles as a case of EvilIsPetty -- you'd ''think'' a person with seventeen millennia -- [[Really700YearsOld not centuries]], ''[[TimeAbyss millennia]]'' -- of life experience under their belt would be able to come up with better ways to pass the time than by indulging in petty power-mongering and corrupting impressionable teenagers.
247* ForeignCultureFetish: She has a particular fondness for AncientRome, choosing to reside in a lost Roman colony for centuries. If you go by the Fabian Nicezia retcon, she even went so far as to ''create'' said "lost" Roman colony, which wasn't actually lost as she just brainwashed hundreds of random Europeans to make them think they were part of a lost Roman colony.
248* FreudianExcuse: Was venerated as a goddess and worshipped basically since birth, and has never really faced consequences that she wasn't either shielded from by her followers or able to talk or fight her way out of. She is one of the most vile, morally reprehensible beings in the X-Men canon (moreso than even Apocalypse, who at least had a far more awful childhood and early adulthood and has consistently held himself to his own beliefs whenever he has been defeated), but there's ''something'' of a valid explanation for why she is the way she is, but it still doesn't justify anything since Selene doesn't care for redemption or getting reformed.
249* FromASingleCell: Boasts of being able to reconstitute herself from dust. ''Immortal X-Men'' presents it as a sorcery-based power that can be canceled out by AntiMagic.
250* AGodAmI: Her surfacing around ''Necrosha'' gives this as her motivation, although she has claimed to be a goddess since her introduction. She was even worshipped as such since birth, around 17,000 years ago, and was even offered regular human sacrifices by her people. It has left her with an ego problem. [[spoiler:Even so, she recognizes Arkea as a being older than her and treats her with respect... right up until she leaves her for dead.]]
251* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Styles herself as the 'Black Queen' and is one of the deadliest of the X-Men's villains.
252* TheHedonist: Even seventeen millennia of self-indulgence haven't sated Selene's appetite for decadence.
253* HumanSacrifice: She got started on this very early, with the tribal elders of her village ordering their own people to sacrifice themselves to her after identifying her as a goddess (see SelfMadeOrphan below). Since that time she has spent much of her history being served in this way, either by corrupted citizens or by entire civilizations outright.
254* HumiliationConga: In ''Immortal X-Men'' she is punished for inflicting a giant monster on Krakoa by first being shot through the head with a [[AntiMagic Mysterium]] bullet by ComicBook/HopeSummers, then being sucker-punched by Hope immediately upon being resurrected, then being subjected to some MindRape by Exodus who controls her to discorporate said giant monster and then unceremoniously sends her back to death with a NeckSnap (that she should logically be able to resurrect from, but the title treats it as her being KilledOffForReal).
255* ImAHumanitarian: Not literally, but close enough. She feeds on the life-force of her victims, leaving only skeletal husks.
256* ImmortalImmaturity: She is older than written history itself, yet she has roughly the mentality and attitude of [[Series/GameOfThrones Cersei Lannister]]. Her almost pathological need to be worshiped, tendency to fly into destructive rages whenever things don't go her way or she feels slighted, emotional fragility and inordinate vulnerability to {{Villainous BSOD}}s whenever someone triggers her, almost obsessive love of petty TheCorrupter and BrainwashedAndCrazy antics with people who cannot influence events in any meaningful way, and general proclivity for small-scale petty vindictiveness and vengefulness makes her come off as a really shitty, nasty, bratty teenage mean girl and makes it obvious that while she may have been ancient when even Apocalypse was young, her emotional growth came to a screeching halt in her early teens.
257* ImmortalityImmorality: Though Selene is over 17,000 thousand years old she doesn't have a moral bone in her entire body.
258* InNameOnly: The version of Selene that appears in ''Dark Phoenix'' shares her name and gender, but aside from those paper-thin connections they're for all intents and purposes two completely different characters.
259* ItsAllAboutMe: Explained, if not really justified: Selene has been worshiped as a goddess literally since her birth, and has spent most of her very long life surrounded by people who venerate her. Interestingly, she has on occasion shown emotion for her worshipers, if not actual empathy, such as when she gave a tender kiss to a Nova Roman general who willingly offered his life to her before sucking him dry.
260* {{Jerkass}}: Quite notoriously so. Selene is a complete and utter bitch and enjoys every minute of it. She might delve into FauxAffablyEvil at times or use honeyed words to manipulate someone, but it's just a veneer that never lasts long.
261* KickTheDog: She once murdered a homeless guy who had befriended Rachel Summers, just ForTheEvulz.
262* LaserGuidedTykebomb: The intended target of one, as the young mutant (and future [[ComicBook/NewWarriors New Warrior]]) Firestar was actually recruited to the Hellions by Emma Frost with the express purpose of killing Selene.
263* LesbianVampire: Perhaps it is just [[AuthorAppeal Claremont]] but trying to turn attractive teenage psychics like Rachel Grey into her disciples seems to be a particular hobby of hers.
264* LifeDrinker: She can drain the life out of others to keep herself young. As an added bonus, said lifeforce also fuels her sorcerous powers.
265* LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: Invoked. Even long after she had left the Hellfire Club, her costume mirrored that of Emma Frost, only in black instead of white.
266* LightningBruiser: When she's not low on life force, she has superhuman reflexes, speed and strength. She showed this by beating the Hydra Captain America using only brute force despite that Steve Roger's own superhuman physique and superior fighting skills.
267* LiquidAssets: Originally her LifeDrinker powers were only applicable to herself, but after she TookALevelInBadass for the ''Necrosha'' story arc she was able to extend it to others.
268* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Selene has a ''lot'' of powers, and being both a mutant and a practicing sorceress makes it tough to pin down what comes from her mutation and what's the result of her magic.
269* MakeWayForTheNewVillains: See AssholeVictim above.
270* ManipulativeBitch: Even though she doesn't need to, she really enjoys toying with people's minds to get what she wants. A lot.
271* MindOverMatter: She has telekinetic abilities as part of her mutation set.
272* MomentKiller: In a famous story, she very nearly murdered [[ComicBook/JuggernautMarvelComics The Juggernaut]]. Ironically, Juggy was saved by Wolverine, who started a bar fight between himself, Colossus and Juggs before Selene could finish seducing him.
273* MostCommonSuperPower: She has a very noticeable and buxom bust.
274* {{Mutant|s}}: If not the first (Firehair of the Prehistoric Avengers and some others predate her), then she's certainly the longest-lived and first ''known''.
275* {{Necromancy}}: She's a master of this form of magic to the point where she completely resurrected Hydra Captain America even though she had melted him down months earlier. Selene had also brought back the dead of Necrosha as undead.
276* NeverMyFault: Particularly in ''Necrosha'' and the stories leading up to it.
277* NoblewomansLaugh: To go with her regal persona.
278* NotInThisForYourRevolution: Has no interest in Krakoa, even on pragmatic grounds, and actively works to undermine and betray them just because she can.
279* OfCorsetsSexy: Well, she ''is'' in Hellfire...
280* OurVampiresAreDifferent: She is a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychic_vampire psychic vampire]].
281* OutGambitted: In ''Immortal X-Men'' she attempts to force the Quiet Council of Krakoa to bend to her will by summoning a giant monster that cannot be conventionally attacked or destroyed to attack the island, then retreating to the headquarters of Coven Akkaba which has promised her refuge. Hope Summers uses a prophecy from Destiny and Magik's time-discs to assassinate her at a window, and after resurrecting her the Council uses Exodus to force her to discorporate the monster and kill her again, seemingly for good.
282* PatrioticFervor: Has exhibited this at times regarding Nova Roma, a lost colony that has worshiped her as a goddess for centuries. [[http://i.imgur.com/hzEqvLR.jpg See here]] for a good example.
283* PhysicalGoddess: Always styled herself as this, but she really starts living up the role in [[ZombieApocalypse Necrosha]]. Not so much in ''Immortal X-Men'', which portrays her as a ''very'' SquishyWizard.
284* PragmaticVillainy: Surprisingly enough given her monstrous ego, but Selene has enough self-interest to not let her pride get in the way of a good deal for her. This quality is what drove her to join the Hellfire Club in the first place, and decades later in the pages of ''House of X'' she swallowed her pride a second time and joined the massive new mutant nation of Krakoa, not because she has any faith in or passion for mutant solidarity, but because she's smart enough to sense which way the wind is blowing. This doesn't stop her from throwing it all away in a fit of pique, but that ImmortalImmaturity had to kick in sometime.
285* ProudBeauty: Selene ''knows'' she's very attractive and she wouldn't want anyone to forget it. See VainSorceress below.
286* PsychopathicWomanchild: Going hand-in-hand with ImmortalImmaturity, Selene is old enough to effectively view even Apocalypse as a young upstart, but strip away all of her power and she's basically just a really nasty overgrown teenager with a pathological love of corrupting others and being worshiped who can more often than not be driven into debilitating panic attacks or aimless raging meltdowns just by saying something that triggers her or touches a nerve.
287* RecycledPremise: The ''Necrosha'' story arc in 2010, of which Selene was the main villain. It was a thinly-veiled reworking of the 2009 Creator/DCComics CrisisCrossover story ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'', just with Nekron and the black power rings swapped out for Selene and her modified transmode virus.
288* Really700YearsOld: Though ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} claims to be the first mutant, Selene's got him beat pretty handily. At ''[[TimeAbyss 17,000]]'' years old, she's by far the oldest recorded mutant, as well as one of the oldest beings in the Marvel U period.
289* RoguesGalleryTransplant: While mostly an enemy of the X-Men and their related teams, she faced Captain America and the Daughters of Liberty when she decided to go out of Krakoa and cause mayhem. She was also the main villain in a 1999 story arc of the Fantastic Four. In an anthology story from 1991, Selene had the bright idea to challenge the Hulk because she was bored. She soon felt rejected because he wanted to be left alone, and her mind games did not work on him.
290* ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers[=/=]ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful: If she can't charm her way out of something, she has more than enough firepower to fight her way out, and believing that she is completely beyond reproach is a consistent character trait of hers.
291* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Courage under fire is not Selene's strong suit. It takes a lot to get her under fire, mind, but the moment she thinks the tide's turned against her she usually doesn't hesitate to beat feet.
292* SealedEvilInACan: After a failed alliance with Blackheart, Selene was trapped for a time in the catacombs beneath the Hellfire Club's headquarters.
293* SelfMadeOrphan: Like fellow X-villain Proteus, Selene's mutant powers manifested much earlier than is normal for mutants - specifically, at the moment of her birth. Her first use of them was to drain her mother's life force dry, leading the village elders to pronounce her a goddess.
294* SmugSnake: Selene has nothing but contempt for anyone questioning her ways or antagonizing her. If her vanity and pretentious smirks weren't already clue enough, she usually talks down to anyone interacting with her. Unless she is trying to manipulate them in some way, that is.
295* SolitarySorceress: Viewed as this by her External brethren, due to her not attending any of their gatherings. To be fair, they ''do'' have something of a point, as she has spent most of her life in isolated settlements cut off from the outside world.
296* SoreLoser: ''Immortal X-Men'' puts it best, describing her as "a bad winner and an even worse loser". Her actions in the title completely bear this description out.
297* SquishyWizard: Inverted, unless her reserves are low she can take strong hits like a champ. Hydra Captain America landed a couple of good SuperSoldier attacks on her which she returned in kind, before she caught his kick and snapped his foot by twisting it 180 degrees.
298* StatuesqueStunner: She's 5'10"/178cm tall and she sure is attractive in a decadent sort of way.
299* StupidEvil: At her worst, she's this. She has the power, intellect, and connections to be a threat on par with Magneto and Apocalypse if she wanted to, but she is so obsessed with childish power games and petty TheCorrupter antics with people who will, at worst, go on a brief rampage before being taken down (never with any genuine heavy hitters) that "play stupid games, win stupid prizes" is honestly a very accurate summary of how her schemes tend to go. There is a reason why, despite having been an incredibly persistent and long-lived threat to the X-Men, she has only ''one'' real moment where they were forced to take her seriously and couldn't just wait for something to backfire or for her to have a VillainousBSOD or flip her shit and launch into a glorified tantrum because something didn't go her way or someone said something mean to her.
300* SummonMagic: Summons an EldritchAbomination made of the essences of her dead External brethren in ''Immortal X-Men''.
301* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: One of the few consistently viable ways of dealing with her, owing to her extreme vanity and narcissism and tendency to lose her shit and have crippling panic attacks when you manage to hit her where it really hurts (usually by making reference to her extreme age, ''especially'' if you're preying on her fear of her ability to stave off aging burning out someday).
302* ThirdPersonPerson: Often refers to herself in the third person, especially when she wants to sound particularly haughty or menacing.
303* TimeAbyss: She's literally been alive for the entirety of recorded history and then some. For reference, she is roughly twelve thousand years older than Apocalypse.
304* TransformationHorror: She's capable of inflicting this on others, as seen with the Roman senator Eliphas, who she transformed into the immortal Eli Bard as punishment for failing her.
305* UngratefulBitch: She abandons Arkea to the X-Men, even though Arkea [[spoiler:was the being who had facilitated her resurrection]].
306* UnskilledButStrong: An interesting variation on this trope with her, as her lack of skill is mental rather than physical. In terms of physicality, sorcery and raw mutant power Selene ranks among the strongest of mutants, but her fragile psyche and lack of fortitude keep her from being a BigBad level threat.
307* VainSorceress: Right up there with the Asgardian Enchantress as one of the most vain and fiercely self-obsessed characters in the Marvel Universe, she is so fixated on her own youth and beauty that Wolverine taunting her by calling her an 'old hag' during ''Necrosha'' serves to distract and enrage her during her triumphant ascension, leading to her (temporary) death. An even more direct example is when Dani Moonstar taunted her with an illusion of a withered and ugly image of herself, while warning the ancient sorceress that sooner or later the accumulating centuries would be too much for her powers to deny, leaving her a wrinkled crone forever. The horror of that vision so completely shatters Selene's concentration and confidence during ''another'' moment of triumphant ascension that she loses her ability to access her magicks, forcing her to flee.
308* TheVamp: Oh, is she ever! Being a literal (psychic) vampire certainly helps.
309* VillainousBreakdown: Suffers one after being fatally stabbed by Warpath at the end of ''Necrosha''.
310-->'''Selene:''' I... I am... [[AGodAmI I am a god...]] [[ThisCannotBe How can this...]] This is wrong... this is not how things were meant to be...
311* TheWomanBehindTheMan: To the Upstarts, later to Madelyne Pryor and later still to Wither.
312* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Does this to Bard, [[spoiler: and it's implied she would've done it to Wither and possibly the entire Inner Circle had she lived long enough]].
313* YouKilledMyFather: She killed Amara's mother. Made more heinous what with Amara being her granddaughter (sometimes).
314[[/folder]]
315
316[[folder:Magneto and Storm]]
317!!Magneto and Storm / White King and Grey King
318[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/magneto_storm.jpg]]
319!!!'''Hellfire First Appearance:''' ''Uncanny X-Men'' #210 (1986)
320
321-> ''I am what I am, Shaw. As is Storm. Take us or leave us!''
322\
323The "last of the four Lords Cardinal", Magneto and Storm were jointly invited to the Hellfire Club by Sebastian Shaw as a gesture of peace, and jointly shared the title of White King between them. After the events of ''ComicBook/Inferno1988'', Magneto expelled Shaw from the Club and retitled himself the Grey King, but soon lost interest in the Club altogether in favor of more [[ComicBook/FatalAttractionsMarvelComics overt supervillainy]]. While Magneto would briefly return to the Club and reclaim his position, Storm has never returned to the Club's ranks on any level.
324----
325-> See [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]] and [[Characters/MarvelComicsStorm Storm]]
326[[/folder]]
327
328!Inner Circle
329
330[[folder:Harry Leland]]
331!!Harold "Harry" Leland / Black Bishop
332%%
333%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16916145520.85794900
334%% Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.
335%%
336[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/harrylelalnd.png]]
337!!!'''Nationality:''' American
338!!!'''Species:''' Human mutant
339!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''Uncanny X-Men'' #129 (1980)
340
341-> ''Your challenge is accepted, dear boy. Stop you I shall.''
342\
343A portly attorney and mutant GravityMaster who was one of Shaw's first allies in Hellfire. Rounding out their ranks, he proved a surprisingly capable opponent to the X-Men, but his sedentary lifestyle eventually caught up to him in a battle against the super-Sentinel Nimrod.
344----
345* AffablyEvil: Unlike Shaw or even Emma Frost when she was a villain, Leland genuinely carries himself with a air of high class politeness and professionalism. He's nothing but courteous, affable and even outright charming even when dealing with his enemies in the most ruthless of ways.
346* TheAlcoholic: Leland's vice of choice, which is why he's so out of shape compared to Shaw.
347* {{Ambadassador}}: He's Krakoa’s representative at the U.N. and more than capable of getting his hands dirty if he feels the need to do so, being especially crafty with the use of his mutant powers.
348* BeardOfEvil: A full beard and is a bad guy.
349* BackFromTheDead: He’s finally brought back properly on Krakoa by the Five so he can take The chair as Krakoa’s representative at the U.N.
350* CameBackWrong: Bears the dubious distinction of having this happen to him twice. The first time was in the 90s, when the voodoo-themed villain Black Talon chose Leland to resurrect as one of his four "X-Humed". He was laid to rest after this story with his mouth filled with salt and sewn shut to prevent future resurrection, but apparently this measure was not enough, as he returned again during the ''Necrosha'' event.
351* ComicBookFantasyCasting: His appearance was modeled after Creator/OrsonWelles while his name is take from Harry Lime of ''Film/TheThirdMan'' and Jed Leland from ''Film/CitizenKane''.
352* CowardlyLion: He wasn't nearly as self-confident as Shaw and preferred to avoid fisticuffs when he could, but when push came to shove Leland was always there for his friends and allies.
353* CripplingOverspecialization: He was so reliant on his powers to fight that he immediately resorted to using his ability against Wolverine when the X-Man was ''right above him'', with the result that he was sent crashing down through the next few floors when Wolverine landed on top of him.
354* CurbStompBattle: He crushed Wolverine -- quite literally -- in their first battle, increasing the weight of the clawed Canuck until the floor gave out under him, sending Wolvie crashing down into the sewers.
355* FailureToSaveMurder: Considered himself guilty of this when he did not engage a Sentinel in combat because he was afraid and it ended up killing Lourdes Chantel, Shaw's fiancée. Only then did he use his powers on it in anger and guilt so that Shaw could finish it off, although the effort nearly killed Leland.
356* FatBastard: Less bastardly than fellow bishop Pierce or his Hellfire superiors, but he still helped Shaw institute ThePurge against the Hellfire Club's previous leadership. Also, [[EvilLawyerJoke he was a lawyer]].
357* GravityIsAHarshMistress: As both Wolverine, Colossus, and even Nimrod learned in their battles with him.
358* GravityMaster: Gravity Novice might be more apt in his case, as he could increase the mass of any object or person within 350 feet of his person but could not decease it likewise or otherwise alter it. He was also unable to defy gravity in any way himself.
359* GravitySucks: He was able to pull Sebastian Shaw out of orbit (after Shaw had been thrown there by Nimrod) and bring him crashing back down onto the super-Sentinel.
360* HollywoodHeartAttack: Had an ultimately fatal one.
361* HollywoodNewEngland: He was born in Boston and certainly fits the mold of the "Codfish Aristocracy" stereotype.
362* KilledOffForReal: Died of a heart attack after overexerting his mutant power in a fierce fight with ConflictKiller [[KillerRobot robot]] Nimrod.
363* LukeIMightBeYourFather: When he attempted to assassinate his father, Shinobi taunted Sebastian with the possibility that he was actually Leland's son, since their powers were much more alike than his and Sebastian's. ''Marauders'' #26 confirms that Leland is Shinobi's biological father.
364* NobleDemon: He lacked the passion for backstabbing that most Hellfire Club alumni boast, was willing to ally with the X-Men against Nimrod, and ultimately sacrificed his life for his friends and allies.
365* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: In his rematch with Wolverine, Harry made the very bad mistake of increasing Wolverine's mass again -- as he was leaping down at him for a DeathFromAbove attack. Against all odds, he somehow managed to survive being crushed under hundreds, maybe thousands of pounds of hairy bad-smelling Canadian and lived to increase mass another day.
366* VillainousValor: He was definitely not one of the good guys, but Leland refused to let his fear of Nimrod overcome him, and fought literally past his last breath, clinging to life just long enough to bring Shaw back down from orbit and smash him into Nimrod.
367[[/folder]]
368
369[[folder:Donald Pierce]]
370!!Donald Pierce / White Bishop
371[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/200px-donald_pierce_earth-616_002_1066.jpg]]
372[[caption-width-right:200:''Donald Pierce could give Jean Grey a run for her money when it comes to coming back from the dead.'' - Wolverine]]
373!!!'''Nationality:''' American
374!!!'''Other Ranks:''' White King
375!!!'''Species:''' Human cyborg
376!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''Uncanny X-Men'' #132 (1980)
377\
378One of the X-Men's most loathsome foes, an evil racist cyborg who wants to exterminate all mutants - usually starting with the babies and children and working his way up. Totally repugnant and insane. Ironically, was a former member of the Hellfire Club until his political views drove him to become an all-out anti-mutant terrorist.
379----
380* AristocratsAreEvil: He started out as a RichBitch in the Hellfire Club before his anti-mutant views and SanitySlippage set in.
381* AssholeVictim: It's ''really'' hard to feel sorry for this guy when Trevor Fitzroy shows up at his base with a small army of future Sentinels and proceeds to tear all his mooks, and then him, limb from limb.
382* BetaTestBaddie: Early in his career he was written this way, considering himself only "half a man" because of his cyborg enhancements. He eventually got over it.
383* BloodKnight: He wages war on mutants solely because of ThePowerOfHate.
384* ChessMotifs: Like all Hellfire Club members, Pierce got a rank analogous to a chess piece; in his case, it was the White Bishop.
385* ChildHater: Pierce's anti-mutant sentiments are such that he believes mutants are best killed when they're young; as such, he's basically the walking personification of WouldHurtAChild in the X-Men universe. Of the 348 mutants he's credited with killing, almost all of them were children.
386* ColdBloodedTorture: Inflicted this on ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} back in UsefulNotes/TheEighties, leaving him crucified and half-dead in the middle of the Australian outback.
387* ComicBookFantasyCasting: His appearance was originally based on that of Creator/DonaldSutherland while his name is a combo of Sutherland's first and Series/{{Mash}} main character Ben "Hawkeye" Pierce.
388* CombatPragmatist: A distinctly evil version, as he targets the mutants least capable of defending themselves (children) for his prey. He also pulls out all kinds of dirty tricks whenever he has to throw down with the X-Men, with the dirtiest being a nano-virus he had developed ''specifically to attack Wolverine''.
389* ConflictKiller: When he came back at the TurnOfTheMillennium he was a sufficient enough threat to necessitate an alliance between the X-Men and Sebastian Shaw.
390* CowardlyLion: Villainous example. He's a [[TheBully bully]], and a DirtyCoward, but in a fight he's a match for the likes of Wolverine.
391* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Pierce is one of the first {{Cyborg}}s in ''X-Men'', and in early appearances had a BetaTestBaddie attitude, considering himself only "half a man" because of his cybernetic enhancements, but even before becoming a cyborg he was a bitter {{Fantastic Racis|m}}t and all-around terrible person; becoming a cyborg just gave Pierce the power to vent his rage on the mutants he hates so much.
392* {{Cyborg}}: Has kept pace with the X-Men over the years by constantly upgrading his cyborg body, mixing and matching parts and bodies so often you'd think he was made of legos.
393--> '''Pierce:''' The beauty of being a cyborg is that, unlike you mutants, I can always ''upgrade''.
394* DeathIsCheap: See the profile quote. Because he's far more machine than man now, Pierce is one of the most frequently killed X-Men villains. Beheaded, dismembered, however he dies he always manages to rebuild himself and come back.
395* DirtyCoward: Not exactly. He has faced Wolverine directly in combat, but generally prefers to pick his battles to his advantage, hence targets child mutants, sets traps, or sees to that he has the advantage through numbers and ambush. TheBully would probably be a better term.
396* EvilUncle / LikeFatherUnlikeSon: His nephew Justin Pierce is nothing like him, never showing any hatred or bigotry towards mutants and even showing romantic interest in Dani Moonstar.
397* FamilyHonor: Perhaps the one and only positive thing that can be said about Pierce, even as narcissistic and self-serving as it is, is that he has this. At one point he is arrested by the FBI, and among their agents is a Justin Pierce, identified as Donald's nephew. When Pierce inevitably escapes he is given the chance to kill Justin but leaves his nephew alive, telling him that unlike him, he values family.
398* HateSink: Aside from the one-time case of Family Honor described above, Pierce has never been seen to have anything even approaching a redeemable trait. No concern for his fellow man, no friends or lovers, not even a FreudianExcuse. The man's just got a mad-on for mutants and ThePowerOfHate.
399* HeWhoFightsMonsters: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] -- unlike other anti-mutant zealots such as Graydon Creed and Senator Kelly, Pierce doesn't seem to have any higher concerns for his fellow man driving his anti-mutant views.
400* {{Jerkass}}: One of the most odious examples you'll ever find. He's a [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain vile]], [[EvilIsPetty spiteful]], [[DirtyCoward cowardly]] [[TheBully bully]] motivated completely by ThePowerOfHate and without an ounce of humanity anywhere in him.
401* JokerImmunity: See DeathIsCheap above. While not a hugely ''popular'' villain, Pierce's cyborg nature makes resurrecting him very easy. Even if his head is taken off, he'll inevitably come back sooner or later.
402* MakeWayForTheNewVillains: Like many classic X-Men villains, Pierce was offed in UsefulNotes/TheNineties at the hands of then up-and-comer villains the Upstarts. In Pierce's case, Trevor Fitzroy invaded his Australian hideout with a squad of future Sentinels and picked off the Reavers one by one, bringing back Pierce's bisected body to Shinobi Shaw as proof of his successful conquest. This being a decade before Pierce reached full JokerImmunity status, he vanished for most of the 90s as a result.
403* NiceJobFixingItVillain: He brought Sam Guthrie on as hired muscle for the Hellfire Club and ordered him to kidnap Professor X. This set into motion a chain of events that led to Sam becoming the mutant superhero Cannonball.
404** This is something of a recurring trope with Pierce, as his efforts end up helping the heroes. His past machinations against mutants have directly led to the formation of both the New Mutants and the Young X-Men. His attempts to kill Wolverine instead created the robots Albert and Elsie-Dee, two loyal allies of Wolverine. An effort to violently take over the Hellfire Club, instead offered Sunspot temporary control over the remaining resources of the Hellfire Club.
405* OffWithHisHead: Frequently dispatched this way. 90s villain Trevor Fitzroy beheaded him and tossed his head into fellow Upstart Shinobi Shaw's bed to prove it (imagine ''Film/BladeRunner'' meets ''Film/TheGodfather'') and a decade later Sebastian Shaw ''punched'' his head off. [[DeathIsCheap This never kills him for good]], of course.
406* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: An unrepentant racist who WouldHurtAChild without blinking.
407* PutOnABus: Currently on one since 2010's ''Second Coming'' storyline. Cyclops blew him to smithereens, but Pierce has come back from worse.
408* ThePowerOfHate: After being socially ruined and willingly sacrificing what little humanity he was born with in the name of power, it's safe to say this is the only thing that keeps Pierce getting up out of bed in the morning. Indeed, his hatred for the mutant race runs so deep that his (current) LastWords to Cyclops were an EvilIsPetty rant about how the only thing he was sorry for was that he wouldn't be around to see mutantkind's extinction.
409* PsychoElectro: Being a HollywoodCyborg, he was eventually upgraded to be able to generate currents of electricity from the tips of his WolverineClaws.
410* RoguesGalleryTransplant:Initially a foe of the X-Men, and latter one of the most persistent foes of the New Mutants. He was also used as a recurring foe of the Punisher in the early 1990s, and he is often used as a major foe on Wolverine's solo adventures.
411* ShoutOut: He is named after and originally looked like Creator/DonaldSutherland; his surname is a reference to Sutherland's character in the movie ''Film/{{Mash}}'', Hawkeye Pierce.
412* SmugSnake: The classical villain that loves to smirk and taunt as long as he's got the advantage.
413* SympathyForTheHero: At one point shortly after Colossus's loss of his family and sharp descent into depression Pierce ''almost'' exhibits this, calling the tormented mutant "a man after my own heart" and remarking that it would almost be a shame to kill such a man... before adding that he is still a mutant and an X-Man, and therefore must die.
414* TokenHuman: He's the sole regular human of the original Lords Cardinal, as Sebastian Shaw, Emma Frost, Harry Leland, Jason Wyngarde and Jean Grey (the Phoenix Force, actually) are all mutants.
415* TrojanPrisoner: In "Second Coming", Bastion's plan includes Pierce being captured so he can sabotage and destroy the X-Men's jets.
416* VillainousCrush: Had one on Lady Deathstrike during their time together in the Reavers. To say she [[EvenEvilHasStandards wasn't interested]] would be putting it mildly.
417* WolverineClaws: As a cyborg who frequently slugs it out with the TropeNamer, it's unsurprising that Pierce sports these.
418* WouldHurtAChild: Hundreds of them, actually.
419* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Planned to do this to his fellow Lords Cardinal in the Hellfire Club, who he planned to not only kill but usurp as well. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't nearly as good a schemer as he thought he was and his plot ended with him being expelled from the Hellfire Club and losing all his social standing.
420[[/folder]]
421
422[[folder:Friedrich von Roehm]]
423!!Friedrich von Roehm / Black Rook
424[[quoteright:150:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vonroehm.png]]
425!!!'''Nationality:''' American
426!!!'''Species:''' Human lycanthrope
427!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''New Mutants'' #22 (1984)
428
429-> ''I have the high privilege to present, as candidate for admission to the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club, as its new Black Queen -- Lady Selene!''
430\
431A German jeweler and devoted worshipper of Selene who sponsored her membership into the Hellfire Club. Like Leland, he was killed in battle with Nimrod.
432----
433* ComicBookFantasyCasting: Oddly enough, Von Roehm was physically modeled after creator Chris Claremont himself.
434* DoomedContrarian: When Storm proposed the X-Men and Hellfire Club ally against Nimrod, Von Roehm rejected her proposal. Panels later, he was...
435* KilledOffForReal: Nimrod barbecued his ass and has never returned in over three decades.
436* LegacyCharacter: When Kade Kilgore briefly took over the Hellfire Club, one of the Club members that showed up to his coronation was named Wolfgang Von Roehm. Who this man is and what relation he is to Friedrich is unknown, as he was [[TheGhost never shown]].
437* OldRetainer: He is apparently from a line of high priests to Selene that were bred over generations to have a lycanthropy she alone could trigger at will.
438* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: He was a hereditary lycanthrope, but not of the usual sort as Marvel werewolves goes.
439* SlaveCollar: Well, he ''is'' a Chris Claremont character after all, this sort of thing is to be expected.
440* SlaveMook: Aside from his personal devotion to Selene, his lycanthropic form could only be awakened by her, and in that state he was outright contolled by her.
441* SmallRoleBigImpact: Von Roehm wasn't around for long, but he did serve as Selene's introduction to the Hellfire Club, leading her to the group she has been affiliated with for most of her comic history.
442* SycophanticServant: He was a self-professed high priest of the religion venerating Selene and was her worshipful, perfectly willing slave.
443* TwoferTokenMinority: He's not a mutant or even a human, but rather a magic-based mutate, and both groups have no representation in the Hellfire Club other than him.
444* TheVonTropeFamily: He's got the requisite Von tacked onto his name to emphasize his noble family bloodline.
445* WeHardlyKnewYe: Unlike Leland, Von Roehm has never been resurrected, and appears in only 9 issues.
446[[/folder]]
447
448[[folder:Jason Wyngarde]]
449!!Jason Wyngarde / Mastermind
450[[quoteright:236:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wyngarde.jpg]]
451!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''X-Men'' #14 (1964, original), ''Uncanny X-Men'' #129 (1980, as Wyngarde)
452
453-> ''Just remember, Shaw, it was my psychic seduction of Jean Grey that provided the key to our victory... "We could have won without her?" Is that so? Very well, then. I'll simply release my hold on her. See how long you last.''
454\
455A mutant MasterOfIllusion originally affiliated with the [[Characters/XMenBrotherhoodOfMutants Brotherhood of Evil Mutants]]. Granted probationary membership into the Inner Circle, he sought to prove his worth and seize control of the Club for himself by corrupting Jean Grey into the Club's new Black Queen. Unfortunately for him, EvilIsNotAToy, and his pursuit of wealth and power came to an ironic end courtesy of the nascent Dark Phoenix.
456----
457-> See Characters/XMenBrotherhoodOfMutants
458[[/folder]]
459
460[[folder:Tessa]]
461!!Tessa / Sage
462[[quoteright:158:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tessa_6.jpg]]
463!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''Uncanny X-Men'' #132 (1980)
464
465-> ''I offer the sanctuary of the Hellfire Club. Let this truce last a little longer. In Shaw's name, I guarantee your safe conduct.''
466\
467Introduced as Sebastian Shaw's PersonalMook, Tessa held no official rank in the Inner Circle but was nevertheless a fixture within it through her close working relationship with the Black King. Staying on with the Hellfire Club after her boss's death, Tessa became a BeleagueredAssistant to the Club's new Black King, Shinobi Shaw, and was mostly able to mitigate the damage his incompetent leadership caused until Sebastian's return. Staying on with the Club's reformed incarnation, Tessa remained loyal to Shaw until she was LeftForDead by him, upon which time she joined (rejoined, actually, as it was revealed at this time that she had actually been a DeepCoverAgent in the Hellfire Club the whole time) the X-Men under the new codename of Sage.
468----
469-> See Characters/XMen2000sMembers
470[[/folder]]
471
472[[folder:Ned Buckman]]
473!!Edward “Ned” Buckman / The White King
474[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/10a37818_43e1_412c_a9b3_2681c4ed112b.jpeg]]
475!!!'''Nationality:''' American
476!!!'''Species:''' Human
477!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''Classic X-Men'' #7 (1987)
478
479Sebastian Shaw's immediate predecessor as the Hellfire Club's head and leader of its ruling body (called then the Council of the Chosen).
480----
481* CorruptCorporateExecutive: A rich industrialist who plotted to use his wealth to fund mutant genocide (via a program called [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Project: Armageddon]], even).
482* DeathByOriginStory: Along with Lourdes.
483* {{Expy}}: It's not immediately obvious given his limited panel-time, but as a FantasticRacist human who plots the deaths of all mutants while holding the rank of White King and usually dressing to match, he's essentially a wimpier Donald Pierce.
484* FantasticRacism: Helped Stephen Lang finance the Sentinels. He paid for this.
485* GreaterScopeVillain: His finding the Sentinels which lead to the death of Lourdes Chantal is what led to Sebastian Shaw killing him, taking control of the Hellfire Club and becoming the cold bastard he is today.
486* KlingonPromotion: Shaw kills him and takes over the Inner Circle, renaming its secret leaders the Lords Cardinal.
487* ManipulativeBastard: Manipulative enough to get Shaw onboard with the Hellfire Club funding Sentinels by convincing him they would be used only to TakeOverTheWorld.
488* PosthumousCharacter: He was already dead by the time he was introduced and only ever appeared in flashbacks.
489* PsychicAssistedSuicide: His death even provides the trope's image.
490* RichBitch: Unlike his successor Sebastian, he was born to wealth.
491* SmugSnake: His plan to backstab Shaw was treachery at its most basic and he had no contigency plan for what to do if the Sentinel assassination failed, leading to Shaw and friends easily turning the tables on him.
492* StepfordSmiler: He always treated Shaw and Lourdes like his best friends but behind the smile he hated their guts and gleefully plotted their deaths.
493* UpperClassTwit: Used the language and mannerisms of one, though he's one of the ones who more used it as a type of ObfuscatingStupidity.
494* VillainInAWhiteSuit: As the Hellfire Club's White King, he mainly (though not always) dressed in white suits.
495[[/folder]]
496
497[[folder:Lourdes Chantel]]
498!!Lourdes Chantel / The Black Queen
499[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lourdes_chantel_xmen.jpg]]
500!!!'''Nationality:''' Spanish
501!!!'''Species:''' Human mutant
502!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''Classic X-Men'' #7 (1987)
503
504Sebastian Shaw's former fiancée from before he became the Black King.
505----
506* ActOfTrueLove: Despite being weakened she still selflessly teleported Sebastian out of a Sentinel's coils, leaving herself open to being impaled by it.
507* CassandraTruth: She tried to warn Shaw that Ned Buckman was a false friend and a lying patron, but Shaw was much more trusting at the time and disregarded her warnings. She also warned Shaw that the Hellfire Club would corrupt him, which sadly also happened after (and partly as a result of) her death.
508* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:''Marauders'' revealed that Emma used the Sentinel attack to make it appear as though Lourdes was killed by a Sentinel. Lourdes previously asked for Emma's help to get away from Sebastian (while sporting a black eye), but Emma brushed off Lourdes's concerns until she saw Sebastian trying to strangle her. Emma saw an opportunity, projected the image of Lourdes dying in the minds of Sebastian and Harry Leland, and then helped Lourdes escape with a new identity.]]
509* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: She was killed by a Sentinel shooting a massive spear through her chest after she saved Shaw's life from it.
510* LostLenore: Her death was part of what caused Shaw's StartOfDarkness and he tells Emma that he has not been truly happy since she died. After the founding of Krakoa and the Five beginning the revival of dead mutants, Shaw laments that due to her passing before Cerebro came online she cannot be revived, although he indicates he has a plan to get around that.
511* MysteriousPast: She knew a lot about the inner workings of the Hellfire Club despite not (as far as has ever been revealed) being among the families with a long Club association. She was also the only one of Shaw's confidants who was not American, hailing from Spain instead. Like the extent of her Hellfire association, it's never been revealed how she and Shaw met, nor how or when she discovered her mutant powers.
512* NotQuiteDead: Turns out her death was a ruse by Emma who helped Lourdes escape the Hellfire Club and Shaw at her request.
513* PosthumousCharacter: Like Ned Buckman, she was already long dead by the time she was introduced. Or not, per the 2021 ''House of X'' retcon.
514* ProperlyParanoid: Repeatedly warned Shaw that Buckman was not to be trusted and that he hated mutants. Shaw did not listen to her until it was too late and cost Lourdes her life to one of Buckman's Sentinels.
515* RetCon: A rather extreme one was introduced in ''ComicBook/HouseAndPowersOfX'' with TheReveal that Lourdes had faked her death to escape an abusive relationship with Shaw, which is particularly jarring given that earlier in the same story hints are dropped that Shaw is plotting some sort of scheme to revive her.
516* {{Teleportation}}: Her mutant ability, although she had issues going long distances with it.
517* WeHardlyKnewYe: Died in her debut story, although one issue in later miniseries went into more depth on how she met Shaw and their relationship together. She was revived in the Krakoan era, but still has only made a half dozen appearances in over 30 years.
518[[/folder]]
519
520[[folder:Emmanuel Da Costa]]
521!!Emmanuel Da Costa / White Rook
522[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6c7b1c06_47ce_400f_a042_f029b47f153d.jpeg]]
523!!!'''Nationality:''' Brazilian
524!!!'''Species:''' Human
525!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''Marvel Graphic Novel'' #4(September, 1982)
526
527[[Characters/MarvelComicsSunspot Roberto Da Costa’s]] wealthy father.
528----
529* AbusiveParents: He was quite [[ControlFreak controlling]] of his family in general, but Roberto got it the worst because Emmanuel wanted to toughen him up.
530* BestServedCold: When he got rich, he bought the mansion of the man he had to work for and took no small pleasure in financially ruining the guy.
531* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He still cared about Roberto and his ex-wife at first, and was insistent his goons avoid killing them if possible, even if it jeopardized his entry into the Hellfire Club. While at an insanely awkward dinner with both Da Costas present, Danielle Moonstar notes that despite their surface bickering, they are still in love.
532* IHaveNoSon: Tells Roberto this in ''New Mutants'' issue 12 when Roberto confronts him. Roberto just shoots back that if that's the case, he'll gladly be half an orphan.
533* MalignedMixedMarriage: His wife is Caucasian. He isn't. Roberto was bullied, in public no less, for being a "filthy half-breed" by the white kids.
534* MotiveDecay: Wanting to provide for your family, all well and good, but over time he starts losing sight of that goal.
535* RagsToRiches: He started off dirt poor, and became a self-made millionaire by twenty. Unfortunately, this left him with some severe issues.
536[[/folder]]
537
538!The Upstarts
539
540[[folder:In General]]
541!! The Upstarts
542[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/49e53567_2518_407c_9c01_e4a09ed37e7b.jpeg]]
543 [[caption-width-right:350:]]
544
545* DeadlyGame: The Upstarts were HuntingTheMostDangerousGame in their corner of the universe, which was of course mutants. Sebastian Shaw and his allies were their first victims, but Selene and the Gamesmaster soon put them to work hunting mutants of all stripes. Good mutants, bad mutants, it didn't matter. The stronger a mutant, the more points they were worth in the game, but in the end it didn't really matter since the game ended without any winner being declared. Though, ''technically'' the winner would have been Trevor Fitzroy if one had been declared, since Shinobi and Cortez's kills were both found to have been duds and neither Siena Blaze nor the provisional members (Graydon Creed and the Fenris Twins) ever got around to actually killing anyone, leaving Fitzroy the only Upstart with a confirmed body count.
546* MakeWayForTheNewVillains: They hit the X-scene with guns blazing, killing off a majority of the previously established ''X-Men'' villains in one fell swoop. Shinobi Shaw killed his father Sebastian, Fabian Cortez took out Magneto, and Trevor Fitzroy iced Donald Pierce, the Reavers, the White Queen and ''all'' of her Hellions. In time most of these deaths [[ComicBookDeath were undone]], with only the Hellions remaining dead.
547* SpoiledBrat: They all had the RichBitch attitude of the Club's ruling class down pat, but lacked their patience and ability to at least ''pretend'' to be something other than self-obsessed {{Jerkass}}es. Kade Kilgore and his clique of whelps also richly qualify.
548
549[[/folder]]
550[[folder:Shinobi Shaw]]
551!!Shinobi Shaw / Black King II / Black Bishop
552[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shinobi_shaw_xmen.jpg]]
553!!!'''Nationality:''' American
554!!!'''Species:''' Human mutant
555!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''X-Factor'' #67 (1991)
556
557-> ''[[RunningGag Why is it that all you X-groups seem bent on breaking into my home every time I’m in the bath?]]''
558\
559The bastard son of Harry Leland, raised by classic X-villain Sebastian Shaw, Shinobi debuted during the 90s as a member of the Upstarts, a gang of wealthy and powerful young mutants that kill other mutants for points. As TheUnfavourite to his hard-nosed adopted father, Shinobi wasted no time in bumping him off ([[spoiler:He failed, but Sebastian vanished for seven years and bore a prominent facial scar upon his return]].) and taking his place as Black King of the Hellfire Club. Unfortunately, Shinobi didn't really have much of a plan for... well, ''anything'' beyond getting rid of his father, so after whittling away a good few years on offscreen orgies, he was written out as going into hiding, and even more jarringly, KilledOffForReal offscreen.\
560With the founding of the new mutant nation of Krakoa and the resurrection abilities of the Five, Shinobi has made his return once again, this time as the Black Bishop of the Hellfire Trading Company. From his warship ''The Upstart'', Shinobi ensures that mutant medicines are delieved into the black markets of countries that have refused to recognize Krakoa while scheming with his father to sieze the title of Red King.\
561He appears as a boss in ''Wolverine: Adamantium Rage'' and ''X-Men: [=GamesMaster's=] Legacy''.
562----
563* AbusiveParents: Sebastian was apparently quite the dick to him in his youth, leading him to become a firm example of AntagonisticOffspring.
564* AdaptationalVillainy: In ''Wolverine: Adamantium Rage'' Shinobi's in-game bio describes him as a man who "uses his cruel cunning and total lack of mercy in his endless quest to strike down the X-Men, and Wolverine in particular". As anyone familiar with him knows, the only thing Shinobi's ever strove to 'strike down' in canon was a bottle of wine.
565* AllYourPowersCombined: He tells Vance Astrovik that the prize for the Upstarts competition is the combined powers of all the other Upstarts, implying that this is what he wants most as all the Upstarts believed the prize was something different.
566* AlliterativeName: There aren't many good reasons to name your kid Shinobi, but at least it makes his full name into this.
567* BackFromTheDead: He and his biological father Harry Leland were both resurrected by Selene's transmode virus during ''Necrosha''. He is now back on a more permenant basis thanks to the Five on Krakoa.
568* BadassLongcoat: Wears one from time to time. Being who he is, there's ''no way'' he isn't intentionally trying to invoke this trope.
569* CavalierCompetitor: An interesting example. Despite very much wanting the prize of winning the Upstarts competition ([[ContinuitySnarl whatever it may have been]]), Shinobi doesn't seem nearly so bent on it as his fellow competitors, even offering Trevor Fitzroy the assistance of his Sentinels when he's in the lead. He seems to treat the whole affair as just an exotic way to make new friends, which is pretty appropriate given his FriendlessBackground.
570* ChessMotifs: Takes his father's title of Black King; he's often referred to on websites as 'Black King II', but this is just to differentiate him from Shaw, and he was only called just 'Black King' in-universe.
571* CorruptCorporateExecutive: ... kind of? Shinobi comes off as way too young (not to mention [[RichInDollarsPoorInSense too dumb]]) to be one of these, yet somehow he manages to orchestrate a hostile corporate takeover that completely swipes Shaw Industries out from under his father's thumb. Might count as a case of HiddenDepths.
572* DaddyIssues: Oh ''yeah''. '''Huge''' ones. So much indeed that he had based his entire life around the idea of punishing his father, so much so that, [[VictoryIsBoring succeeding in doing just that]] [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty lead him to become completely idle afterwards]].
573* DeathIsCheap: Killed by Shaw, brought back in ''Necrosha'', and died again by his own hand. He's dead as of 2019, but with death being a nonfactor as of ''House of X'' it's only a matter of time before Shinobi returns again.
574** And he's back again, resurrected at the request of his father.
575* DepravedBisexual: The very first panel he appears in shows him surrounded by a harem of shirtless and nubile young men and women. Fellow Upstart Trevor Fitzroy wastes no time in making jabs at him for his 'proclivities', just in case the harem image was too subtle.
576* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Implied. Shinobi almost always starts shit [[ItAmusedMe for distraction and for no other reason]]. An IdleRich man without any special talent nor hobby, he isn't even exactly "evil" in the strictest sense of the word. Most times, Shinobi is just bored, uninspired and too oversexed for his own good. Ironically, despite his strong distaste for being ordered around, he's only useful if someone gives him a task to handle.
577* DidntThinkThisThrough: His plan to bump off his father. While it was originally meant to be permanent, in retrospect Sebastian's return seems inevitable. Of all the ways to assassinate a mutant with EnergyAbsorption powers, did Shinobi really think ''a bomb'' would work? If he'd just opted for poison, he'd probably still be drinking and whoring it up in the X-books to this very day...
578* DirtyCoward: Despite theoretically being able to use his powers to duke it out with the heroes as a mini-[[ImplacableMan Colossus]], Shinobi used them pretty much for one thing and one thing only -- running away.
579* DrivenToSuicide: In the pages of ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen2018'' he's inexplicably brought back from the dead only to return himself to the grave because he'd rather die than kneel to Emma Frost.
580* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Was assassinated by his father at some point between 2004 and 2010's ''Necrosha'' story arc.
581* DrugsAreBad: Never stated explicitly, the nineties not quite being ready for that yet, but Shinobi is pretty firmly coded as an enthusiastic user of recreational drugs.
582* EnemyMine: There's a brief, almost AbortedArc, where he tries to recruit Vance Astrovik aka Justice of the New Warriors to the Hellfire Club.
583* EvenEvilHasStandards: Shinobi talks Vance into kidnapping his own girlfriend, with the implied threat that if he doesn't that the other Upstarts will take her and won't be as gentle about it.
584* EvilCannotComprehendGood: A strange example. Shinobi's more immature than outright ''evil'', but his loveless childhood left him pretty much incapable of understanding or appreciating the familial bonds that unite the X-Men together.
585* FriendlessBackground: Overlapping with LonelyRichKid; Warren Worthington/Archangel reveals at one point he was pretty much Shinobi's ''only'' childhood friend, and even then they weren't particularly close.
586* FreudianExcuse: Sebastian apparently looked down on his son for being too effeminate and weak. This ''probably'' played a role in Shinobi's attempts to kill him.
587* GratuitousJapanese: You'd expect this from a character named ''Shinobi'', but it's thankfully averted.
588* HanlonsRazor: Keep it handy when reading ''anything'' this guy appears in. You'll need it.
589* HarmlessVillain: Borderline. Shinobi can ''theoretically'' give you a heart attack, but he's much more likely to just hire someone to beat you up... and that's if he even cares enough to bother, which he usually doesn't. Most villains will dispose of an underling who's betrayed him, but his response when he finds out Tessa sold him out to the X-Men? ''Pout''. No rages, no threats, he literally sulks like a child.
590* TheHedonist: Differs from most Hellfire alumni in that his hedonism is largely just a way of coping with his FreudianExcuse.
591* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: He was a founding member of the Upstarts, a Hellfire Club offshoot of rich young mutants that amuse themselves by hunting other mutants for points.
592* IHateYouVampireDad: To the point of killing his father in his ''very first appearance''. [[spoiler:Or attempting to, at least.]]
593* IdleRich: ''Much'' more so than his father, or really anyone else in the Hellfire Club. The whole reason why Shinobi's tenure as Black King was so brief was because he really didn't ''do'' much of anything after gaining that rank, participating in only a handful of limpwristed efforts to recruit various X-Men to the Club.
594* InTheBlood: His mutant abilities, which come from Harry Leland, his biological father.
595* InadequateInheritor: His father certainly feels this way, and judging from Shinobi's track record as Black King, the elder Shaw is ''entirely'' correct in this belief.
596* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Not to many, as most people can't see past the whole 'born with a silver spoon in his mouth' thing, but aside from the bed of cash he cries (and [[DepravedBisexual screws]]) himself to sleep on Shinobi's definitely got at least a few sympathetic moments. It helps that he's barely ever outright ''trying'' to hurt or destroy the X-Men either, unlike many villains, and actually tries pulling WeCanRuleTogether more than anything else.
597* InformedAbility: Shinobi's power of density control can be used in two ways: either he significantly lower his own density, which makes him intangible, or on the contrary he increases it drastically making him harder than rock. The latter ability however has never been used on panel, and it was only mentionned by Shinobi himself in his first appearence, though technically he uses in small degree when materializing his hand in his opponents' body as a killing technique. See {{Intangibility}} below.
598* {{Intangibility}}: Has the mutant ability of density control, making him a sort of EvilCounterpart to [[ComicBook/KittyPryde Shadowcat]]. It also offers him some limited degree of NighInvulnerability, at least enough to where he can "take a crowbar to the chin" and not flinch.
599* ItAmusedMe: If you're looking for a high-minded villain, look elsewhere. Shinobi does what he does primarily out of boredom and/or whimsy, and really has no overarching plan beyond this. Demonstrated nicely when he usurps his father as Black King of the Hellfire Club, acquiring obscene wealth and the connections to be a potential global mover, only to spend ''years'' doing exactly what he was doing in that very first panel he showed up in -- [[Series/GameOfThrones bedding harlots and drinking with thieves]].
600* JerkassHasAPoint: Sebastian's insulting Shinobi as a pathetic, whining nobody unworthy to inherit Sebastian's power was cruel and abusive...and also '''correct'''.
601* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Probably the one time he doesn't come off as RichInDollarsPoorInSense is when X-Force kicks in his door during the [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame Younghunt]]. Faced with a band of gun-toting and pissed off mutants, he immediately washes his hands of the entire Upstarts affair and flounces off pretty much the ''second'' they let him.
602* LukeIMightBeYourFather: It's implied that Harry Leland, the Black Bishop of the Hellfire Club, might be his biological father. Indeed, Shinobi's mutant powers are similar to Leland's (density control) and very unlike Sebastian's powers. Marauders #26 confirms that Leland is his biological father and Sebastian knew.
603* MechaMooks: After usurping control of Shaw Industries from his father Shinobi gathered a cadre of Sentinels for his own personal use.
604* MundaneUtility: He openly admits he can use his IntangibleMan powers for peeping on girls (not that he needs to with his cash)
605* NonActionBigBad: Despite being a mutant, Shinobi has no interest at all in superhero brawls and whenever one breaks out [[DirtyCoward he inevitably]] [[PragmaticVillainy makes a beeline for the nearest exit]].
606* ObfuscatingStupidity: Possibly. He certainly plays the DepravedBisexual angle ''to the hilt'', seemingly not carrying who might see him carrying on in his numerous orgies. The fact that said people might then dismiss him as a dumb kid in over his head [[EpilepticTrees might be]] an explanation for how he was able to pull off his hostile takeover of Shaw Industries without his dad ever once catching wind of it until it was too late.
607* PragmaticVillainy: Though largely an idiot, Shinobi is notable for being one of the few comic book villains who ''isn't'' interested in dragging things into fisticuffs. He'd much rather just [[ManipulativeBastard talk]] or [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney buy]] his way out of trouble, and when it's inevitable, tends to rely on {{Mooks}} [[NonActionBigBad rather than fight himself]].
608* PutOnABusToHell: A very jarring example. With virtually no buildup or explanation, Shinobi just suddenly... vanished, right around the time his father started re-emerging as a villain. The timing probably wasn't a coincidence, but it took nearly a decade for Marvel to just come out and admit they'd DroppedABridgeOnHim.
609* RichInDollarsPoorInSense: Played for comedy at one point, where Shinobi's underling (and his father's former assistant) Tessa calls the X-Men on him. Not because he's crossed any moral lines or anything, oh no... she calls them because she fears Shinobi's leadership is so ''inept'' that he'll steer the Hellfire Club into ruin out of sheer incompetence.
610* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Let's face it, without the Shaw fortune funding him Shinobi probably would've ended up either in prison or as one of those annoying college kids always going on about legalizing marijuana.
611* [[spoiler: Attempted]] SelfMadeOrphan
612* SignatureMove: Being a villain, he uses his {{intangibility}} powers to pull off 'heart squeezing' as his trademark killing move.
613* SpoiledBrat: Of a sort. While he had every material thing he could ever want, Shinobi was routinely subjected to ritualistic emotional abuse by his father.
614* TeenageWasteland: Beneath all the obscene wealth Shinobi is just another disaffected teen with daddy issues.
615* {{Troll}}: To Wolverine in ''Adamantium Rage''. Somehow Logan gets it in his head that Shinobi (of all people) is responsible for his latest amnesia troubles. Rather than just taking the easy way out and correcting him, Shinobi eggs him on, to the point where Wolverine rips and tears his way through the entirety of the Hellfire Club's staff, including Shinobi's cyborg butler, all just to wipe that smug smirk off his face.
616* TurnOutLikeHisFather: Averted, actually. Despite usurping his father's position as Black King, Shinobi doesn't actually ''do'' anything with that power and is killed offscreen, a horribly ignomious fate for a character with his pedigree.
617* TheUnfavourite: Someone at Marvel must have ''really'' hated this guy. Not only was he written out of the story offscreen, he was killed offscreen! [[spoiler:KilledOffForReal too, no less.]] He was also very much the in-universe Unfavorite of his father, who considered him an unworthy successor and had no problem telling him so to his face.
618* VehicularAssault: Not in the comics, but in the Sega Genesis game ''Wolverine: Adamantium Rage'' he hops into the cockpit of a MiniMecha-sized tank thing to do battle with Wolverine.
619* VillainsOutShopping: Here's a hint: when your villain spends more time partying and getting wasted than he does committing any actual ''villainy'', it's probably a sign you don't have the makings of a master BigBad on your hands.
620* WeCanRuleTogether: He was fairly fond of this, offering high-level Hellfire Club ranks to Archangel and Psylocke, and later Storm as well.
621* {{Yakuza}}: Has dealings with them and it's even possible they were [[TheManBehindTheMan the power behind]] his hostile takeover of Shaw Industries.
622[[/folder]]
623
624[[folder:Trevor Fitzroy]]
625!!Trevor Fitzroy
626[[quoteright:236:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/trevorfitzroy.png]]
627!!!'''Aliases:''' White Rook, Chronomancer
628!!!'''Nationality:''' American (Earth-1191)
629!!!'''Species:''' Human mutant
630!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''Uncanny X-Men'' #281 (1991)
631
632-> ''[[PreMortemOneLiner You have been clumsy, little one]]. You should have chosen a target more within the reach of your abilities.''
633\
634A mutant criminal from around approximately eighty years or so into the future, Trevor Fitzroy originally believed himself to be a simple teleporter. Upon discovering his full potential, he used his mutant abilities to escape into the present day, [[NiceJobFixingItVillain unwittingly bringing his chief pursuer Bishop along with him]]. He made quite an impact when he first arrived thanks to a particularly excessive BloodbathVillainOrigin, but despite (or perhaps because) of it, he was never featured so prominently again. Despite being KilledOffForReal at the TurnOfTheMillennium, he's made a handful of appearances since.
635He appears as a boss in two of the three UsefulNotes/GameGear ''X-Men'' games and as the FinalBoss of ''Wolverine: Adamantium Rage''.
636----
637* AbortedArc: Doubles as a case of WhatCouldHaveBeen; in early appearances Fitzroy was played up as having a very [[ItsPersonal personal]] grudge against Emma Frost, though it was clear the present-day Emma had no idea who he was and his grudge was likely against Emma's future self. Then, a few issues later, Fitzroy claims that Bishop's sister Shard killed his mother, with Bishop himself present, and that he is acting to avenge her murder. Neither of these plot points are ever mentioned or elaborated on again.
638* AbnormalAmmo: At one point he demolished a police barricade by using his portals to summon an oncoming prison train from his future.
639* AdaptationalHeroism: Like many 90s X-Men villains, Fitzroy got his evil quotient dialed back a few notches for his appearance in the X-Men animated series. There he's more of a LovableRogue than a DangerousDeserter, he ends up betraying the BigBad Master Mold to help the heroes (albeit to save his own skin), and his mutant powers pointedly [[NeverSayDie do not kill]], instead just knocking the victim unconscious for a day or two.
640* ArchEnemy: To Bishop. Weirdly for comic-book arch enemies, Fitzroy actually debuted an issue ''before'' Bishop hit the scene.
641* BadBoss: To his lackey/manservant Bantam.
642--> '''Bantam:''' What need do you fill in my life?
643--> '''Fitzroy:''' Your need to keep breathing.
644* BadPowersBadPeople: Having a mutant ability that requires the continuous theft of lifeforce from other beings does not set one up on the road to heroism.
645* BaldOfEvil: As the Chronomancer.
646* BastardBastard: He's the illegitimate son of Anthony Shaw, descendant of today's Sebastian Shaw, and his resentment over being a bastard was one of the main factors that appears to have pushed him into villainy.
647--> '''Fitzroy''': In the olden days of kings and queens, 'Fitzroy' was the surname given to royal children born out of wedlock, and my dear daddy considers himself every inch a king. I'm his little joke, see?
648* BeardOfEvil: More like a little goatee of the sort normally reserved for {{evil twin}}s.
649* BigBadWannabe: Played with -- Fitzroy is definitely this in a narrative sense, being used as the BigBad for his first story arc and then constantly being forced into working for villains with greater power and resources afterward. But in-universe, Fitzroy didn't actually ''want'' to be a supervillain on par with Magneto, instead just wanting to escape into the past and carry on his hedonistic lifestyle there.
650* BloodbathVillainOrigin: His primary claim to fame. Busting onto the scene in 1991, Fitzroy racked up an ''astonishing'' bodycount with the help of his pet [[MechaMooks Sentinels]] -- the [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul Reavers]], Selene (sort of -- she was 'merely' imprisoned and tortured rather than killed, being immortal), and most infamously, the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Hellions]] all met their makers by his hand. To this ''day'', well over twenty years later, the massacre of the Hellions is still remembered for being one of the most senseless wastes of beloved D-list characters ever.
651* CameBackWrong: An odd FreudianExcuse - years after his death, Fitzroy was featured in a flashback (flash forward?) issue of ''X-Factor'' which revealed that he had once been a heroic freedom fighter during the Summers Rebellion. Then he was killed by the baddie Cortex, who knew that Fitzroy was the only rebel whose powers he was vulnerable to. Fellow freedom fighter Layla Miller was able to bring him back, but sans his soul. This is [[{{Retcon}} retconned]] into being the reason why he was such an unrepentant JerkAss in the present day.
652* ChessMotifs: His Hellfire Club rank was 'White Rook' and later in ''X-Men '92'' he would acquire a more direct motif, being introduced toying pensively with a chess piece of his arch-enemy Bishop.
653* CoDragons: He and Madelyne Pryor were briefly this to Selene when the Hellfire Club was being reformed. While Madelyne eventually ditched the Club to go find Nate Grey, Fitzroy stuck around a bit longer, finding new patronage with Sebastian Shaw before he finally came to the very late realization that he'd been thinking too small and left to go become a DimensionLord.
654* ColdBloodedTorture: Inflicts this on Selene, locking her in a device that systematically disassembles and reassembles her on a molecular level.
655* CreateYourOwnVillain: A younger Fitzroy was time-travelling cyborg Cortex's first target when he was set on the rebellion, because of his life-draining abilities. Ruby Summers told Layla to resurrect him, knowing what would happen.
656* DangerousDeserter: His father forced him to join the X.S.E. in an attempt to be rid of him. But after having had a taste of wealth and power, he wasn't keen to settle for the life of a glorified rent-a-cop and bailed on them a few years later.
657* DimensionLord: In ''Bishop: The Last X-Man'', where it's revealed he eventually fled the present day to rule a far-flung future where mankind has regressed back to a medieval state.
658* DirtyCoward: Accused of being one by Bishop often, and with his powers mostly being useful for running away, there's some merit to it. Fitzroy himself realizes this and resents it, to the point of invoking it in their final battle.
659--> '''Fitzroy''': You want to end this too, don't you? Well, come closer then... [[VillainousValour and see if I run]]!
660* DroppedABridgeOnHim: His brief revival in the 2018 UXM run was ignobly ended when he and Siena Blaze were killed offscreen by Sentinels.
661* EvenEvilHasStandards: Despite being a fugitive and unrepentant murderer misogyny is apparently crossing the line for him. The first thing he does upon meeting Siena Blaze is kill her boyfriend for going on about how he only hooked up with her because she had the MostCommonSuperpower.
662--> '''Fitzroy:''' No one likes a sexist, Wallace.
663* EvilMentor: To Siena Blaze of the Upstarts.
664* EvilVsEvil: Because he almost always ends up betraying whoever he works with/for, Fitzroy has a lot of enemies among fellow villains. Selene in particular, upon being freed from the perpetual torture chamber he locked her in, took intense pleasure in [[BestServedCold exacting revenge on him]].
665* {{Flanderization}}: In the ''ComicBook/XMan'' title. He was already a JerkAss, did the writers really need to throw in RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil? Apparently Bob Harras and Terry Kavanagh thought so.
666* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: How he was KilledOffForReal. Halfway through a portal that would have allowed him to merge with Time itself, Bishop grabbed his ankle and held him until it closed.
667* TheHedonist: Seems to be a requirement for membership in the Hellfire Club, doesn't it?
668* HowDoIShotWeb: Fitzroy's control of his own powers is decidedly limited at first, and for a good long time after. He can create and maintain multiple portals, but requires the aid of another mutant to 'catalog' them for future use. He has some degree of vulnerability to his LifeDrinker powers too, as X-Force once tricked him into draining (and nearly killing) himself. Finally, for the ''longest'' time he believed his portals were one-way, and he could only use them to travel back in time, never forward. As we see when he realizes his full potential as the Chronomancer, that was very much not the case.
669* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: As a member of the Upstarts, this was his motive for villainy shortly after arriving in the present day.
670* HyperspaceArsenal: A useful side-effect of his mutant powers, though for most of his history he could only access it with the aid of his manservant Bantam, who 'catalogued' his portals to bring back specific things through them (shown examples include a fleet of Sentinels and a prison train).
671* ImmortalitySeeker: He tells Siena Blaze that the prize for the Upstarts competition is immortality, implying that he is one of these since all the Upstarts believed the prize was something different.
672* {{Irony}}: At first, Fitzoy didn't know his portals were time-travel portals. He just opened up portals and tossed Sentinels in willy-nilly.
673* LastNameBasis: In lieu of a proper mutant codename, he had this. Until he became the Chronomancer he was pretty much exclusively addressed as 'Fitzroy'.
674* LockedIntoStrangeness: ''ComicBook/XFactor2006'' revealed that Fitzroy's neon-green hair wasn't natural, but instead a sort of RedRightHand that he'd CameBackWrong after being resurrected by Ruby Summers.
675* MakeWayForTheNewVillains: Due to his BloodbathVillainOrigin detailed above, this guy could well be the {{Trope Namer|s}}.
676* ManOfWealthAndTaste: Being a BastardBastard of one, this is how he styles himself.
677* MechaMooks: He brings back a squad of future Sentinels with him. Shinobi Shaw's [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments response]] is to note that they're, "Mmm. [[LampshadedDoubleEntendre Smaller than mine]]".
678* {{Mutant|s}}: As the descendant of an evil BadassFamily of mutants, this is to be expected, though Fitzroy's powers differ markedly from the other known Shaws.
679** LifeDrinker: He absorbs life energy through physical contact, but doesn't gain increased strength, power, or youth from the exchange. Instead, he can use it for TimeTravel -- a fleeting touch allows him to jaunt back a few minutes or so in time, while draining a person until they're dead allows him to go back weeks. And draining ''multiple'' people...
680** LiquidAssets: At one point he reveals he can channel the life energy he steals into others as well as himself. He does this to his servant Bantam, restoring him to life [[BadBoss after killing him for mouthing off]].
681** {{Teleportation}}: At their most basic level this is what his powers function as. Because he can use a fleeting touch to jaunt from one place to another with only a minute or so lost or gained in a time, Fitzroy actually spent years believing he was only a simple teleporter. It's not known if he discovered his TimeTravel capabilities by accident, and then became a murderer to make use of them, or if he was already a murderer who discovered what he could do after using his mutant powers to kill for the first time.
682** TimeMaster: As his new codename implies, Fitzroy realized his ultimate potential for this as the Chronomancer. No longer just limited to making portals, he could incapacitate people by trapping them in localized pockets of temporal stasis, speed up or slow down the aging process, and even seemed to have some limited RealityWarper abilities, restoring Bishop's sister Shard from her {{Energy Being|s}} state back into a flesh-and-blood form.
683* NiceJobFixingItVillain: He is directly responsible for Bishop's presence in the present day, as a portal he opened for his followers to come through spit out the Bish instead.
684* NoHonorAmongThieves: His most defining personality trait is how utterly disloyal he is to anyone.
685* NotInThisForYourRevolution: According to ''X-Factor'', the main reason Fitzroy took part in the Summers Rebellion was because he was bored (and dating Ruby Summers).
686* OpportunisticBastard: Not seen so much in the comics, but very much this in ''Adamantium Rage''. He pops out of nowhere after Wolverine's trashed Shinobi Shaw and reveals that he was hanging around watching the two of them wail on each other so he could finish them both off.
687* PickyPeopleEater: At one point he gripes about having to drain a flatscan (human) for lifeforce, remarking that they 'leave such an unpleasant aftertaste' compared to mutant victims.
688* PoweredArmor: He brought a suit of armor [[{{Pun}} back from the future]] with him. Probably a good call, seeing how physically fragile he was otherwise.
689--> '''Fitzroy''': The mutants of this day have a nasty habit of fracturing certain facial features I'm rather partial to...
690* RealMenWearPink: In his first appearance, and occasionally thereafter. Merchandise usually changed it to a more aesthetically-pleasing blue.
691* RetCon: A pretty big one some years after his death -- originally Fitzroy had been pretty much crooked from day one, but Peter David's ''X-Factor'' run established him as a FallenHero by showing him as having fought for the good guys during the Summers Rebellion, only to die and [[CameBackWrong get brought back]] out of sheer necessity.
692* RevengeByProxy: Possibly his ''real'' motivation for murdering the Hellions, if the AbortedArc between him and Emma is anything to go by.
693* RoguesGalleryTransplant: Mostly featured as a Bishop villain, he was borrowed to be the final boss for ''Wolverine: Adamantium Rage''.
694* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The Sensitive Guy to Bishop's Manly Man, during the brief time when they were allies in the X.S.E.
695* StableTimeLoop: He became Siena Blaze's EvilMentor because in the future they met and her future counterpart told him where to find her in the present. Whether this was a gambit on the part of Future Siena to produce one of these, or to change her future altogether, is unknown as it ended up being another AbortedArc.
696* TheStarscream: Originally, the Upstarts were being manipulated by Selene from afar. When they found out, it was Fitzroy who went after her to teach her that EvilIsNotAToy.
697* StatusQuoIsGod: Despite evolving into the Chronomancer during his final appearances, the reset button was hit for Fitzroy during his appearance in ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen2018''.
698* ThoseTwoGuys: He was often seen with his manservant Bantam, a SycophanticServant dwarf.
699* TookALevelInBadass: In ''Bishop: The Last X-Man'' he came back for one last hurrah as the Chronomancer, having improved his control of his powers exponentially. Indeed, he'd become so powerful that [[TheWatcher Uatu]] himself showed up to observe his endgame, something he does only for matters of great cosmic importance.
700* VillainBall: In ''Bishop: The Last X-Man''. He was literally ''right there'' in front of the portal and all he had to do was just walk through it, but he just ''had'' to monologue and give Bishop time to catch up to him.
701* VillainDecay: In his first appearance he was a match for the combined force of the Hellions and the X-Men, making use of a variety of useful features of his PoweredArmor that were [[ForgotAboutHisPowers never used again]]. A few issues later Colossus beat the holy hell out of him single-handed, and it was pretty much all downhill from there.
702* WhatMeasureIsAMook: Casually drains a hapless repairman in one story, leading to this exchange:
703--> '''{{Mook|s}}:''' P-Please, don't... I have a wife, kids...
704--> '''Fitzroy:''' They'll just have to wait their turn.
705* WolverineClaws: Sometimes sported these through his armor, other times he could summon them as crystalline 'gloves'.
706* WouldHurtAChild:One of the first things he does upon being revealed as the Chronomancer is to drain a small group of very young kids, just in case any readers were wondering if he was still an irredeemable HateSink scumbag.
707[[/folder]]
708
709[[folder:Fabian Cortez]]
710!!Fabian Cortez
711[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cortez92131.jpg]]
712!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''X-Men'' #1 (1991)
713
714-> '''Cortez:''' How can we even ''consider'' Creed a member of the Upstarts?! He's done ''nothing'' to prove himself, while '''I''' have--
715-> '''Shinobi/Fitzroy:''' --murdered Magneto. Yes. We ''know''.
716\
717A Spanish mutant who was "born royalty" according to himself, Fabian Cortez founded the Acolytes and murdered their idol Magneto, putting him in the early lead of the Upstarts competition (which he lorded over them at every opportunity). Eventually losing his lead when it was revealed that Magneto was NotQuiteDead, Cortez soon found himself [[HoistByHisOwnPetard embroiled in troubles of his own making]], and was the first Upstart to drop out of the competition on account of suffering a sudden case of death courtesy of Exodus.
718----
719-> See Characters/XMenAcolytes
720[[/folder]]
721
722[[folder:Siena Blaze]]
723!!Siena Blaze
724[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/siena_blaze.png]]
725!!!'''Nationality:''' American
726!!!'''Species:''' Human mutant
727!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''Uncanny X-Men Annual'' #17 (1993)
728
729-> ''Ha! I'm not better, Cyclops. I'm the worst. "[[HumansAreBastards They]]" made me who I am today. And now, they'll just have to... DEAL WITH IT!''
730\
731A reckless young mutant anarchist and the last recruit to the thrill-seeking Upstarts. In her debut appearance she almost killed three of the [[ComicBook/{{Storm|MarvelComics}} most]] [[ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} powerful]] [[ComicBook/ProfessorX X-Men]], and she remained a formidable foe for as long as the Upstarts were active. After the Gamesmaster disbanded the group she was shunted into ComicBook/TheUltraverse, where she joined the Exiles (no, not ''[[ComicBook/{{Exiles}} those]]'' Exiles) and found herself going through a HeelFaceTurn. She might have become a full-fledged hero, but unfortunately nobody could figure out what to do with her post-Ultraverse and she vanished for several years before being KilledOffForReal in the mutant concentration camp Neverland.
732She appears as a boss in the 1995 UsefulNotes/GameGear game ''X-Men: [=GamesMaster's=] Legacy''.
733----
734* ArchEnemy: Briefly used this way for ComicBook/{{Jubilee|MarvelComics}} and ComicBook/RachelSummers.
735* BackFromTheDead: She was one of the many dead mutants who were resurrected by Selene's transmode virus during the 2009 Necrosha story and was seen fighting Namor on Utopia. She lived for some years afterward, apparently, but was ultimately killed off again in the fifth volume of ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen''.
736* BadPowersBadPeople: As Professor X himself states on one of Siena's trading card bios: "Never before have I met a mutant whose power is so solely, wantonly and completely destructive."
737* CombatPragmatist: In her first appearance she shoots down a plane with Professor X, Cyclops and Storm inside while the plane is over the Arctic. Even if they end up surviving (which they do), they then have to contend with the hostile arctic weather in addition to her. She, on the other hand, never exhibits any discomfort with the weather, even after being ''frozen inside a glacier'' by Storm, implying that her powers protect her from the environment [[RequiredSecondaryPowers somehow]].
738* ComboPlatterPowers: Has the ability to manipulate electromagnetic fields, which is in functionality a form of of LightningCanDoAnything. She has used it to the following effects:
739** BlowYouAway: In ''[=GamesMaster's=] Legacy'' she attacks the player character with whirling tornadoes.
740** {{Flight}}: Achieves this by surrounding herself with an aura of magnetic energy of equal polarity to the Earth's geomagnetic field, causing the Earth to repel her upwards.
741** NighInvulnerability: Through unexplained means she was capable of rendering herself tough enough to tank an optic blast from Cyclops ''and'' a compact hurricane from Storm simultaneously.
742** ShockAndAwe: Fires deadly force blasts of electromagnetic energy. Just one of these blasts was capable of bringing down the [[CoolPlane Blackbird]].
743** SuperSenses: She can sense both people and objects that effect the Earth's EM field, even teleporters like Nightcrawler. Sensing teleporters in particular allows her to perform a:
744** TeleFrag: By disrupting the EM field in a teleporter's vicinity, she can redirect where they will rematerialize. When she used this on Nightcrawler she forced him to rematerialize into solid rock.
745** {{Teleportation}}: "Rides" the Earth's EM field to teleport in a fashion similar to ComicBook/{{Nightcrawler}}.
746** WeatherManipulation: An extremely nasty side effect of her powers and the reason for her being declared TooPowerfulToLive. She causes localized ecological disasters every time she uses her powers.
747* CoolShades: Almost always seen sporting a pair of giant red 90s shades.
748* DarkActionGirl: Served this role in the Upstarts.
749* DistaffCounterpart: Though Siena herself turned out to be a very minor character, much of her personality was borrowed from for the reimagined version of Pyro seen in the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'', to the point where that character can accurately be called a CompositeCharacter of the actual Pyro and Siena.
750* DroppedABridgeOnHer: Unceremoniously killed off in the pages of Weapon X after several years of being MIA without any fanfare at all. She later got a ''second'' bridge dropped on her in the pages of ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen2018'', being brought back only to be killed offscreen '''yet again'''.
751* EvenEvilHasStandards: She calls Mr. Sinister a "real creep" when strong-armed by the Gamesmaster into working for him.
752* {{Foreshadowing}}: Trevor Fitzroy convinces her to join him by giving her a brief glimpse of her future self, who is shown to be an aged prisoner on a mutant transport train. Later the present-day Siena was herself captured by Weapon X.
753* HeelFaceTurn: Twice, once in a ComicBook/WhatIf story where she joins the X-Men of a BadFuture and then when the main universe Siena joined the Ultraverse Exiles.
754* HumansAreBastards: Expresses some measure of bitterness about "regular people" when Cyclops exhorts her to "be better", leading to her profile quote above.
755* MoreDeadlyThanTheMale: It was strongly implied that Siena was the most powerful member of the Upstarts, despite being the youngest and least experienced of them. Even their leader Gamesmaster, who is himself a mutant omnipath with telepathy so advanced he is constantly connected to every mind on Earth, was once stated to be "frightened of the genie he let out of its bottle." Siena later proved it by holding her own against the likes of ComicBook/RachelSummers, [[Comicbook/{{Magik}} Illyana Rasputin]], and even [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]].
756* OmnicidalManiac: Implicitly implied with the revelation that Siena risks causing permanent damage to Earth's electromagnetic field every time she uses her powers and she just keeps on using them anyway.
757* PersonOfMassDestruction: As a result of her high power level combined with her inexperience, Siena's mutant ability tears scars into the Earth's electromagnetic field every time she uses it.
758* PsychopathicManchild: Starts off as a particularly nasty one, but after some character development as a member of the Exiles she appeared to be growing out of it.
759* RunForTheBorder: When she is first found by Trevor Fitzroy she is on the run with a human bank robber. They are actually in the middle of a shootout with the police when Fitzroy shows up.
760* TeensAreMonsters: Or extremely reckless and anarchistic villains, in her case.
761* TeenageWasteland: Her later character development would seem to indicate Siena was more disaffected and immature than out-and-out evil.
762* SpannerInTheWorks: The mad mutant Stryfe feared Siena might become this for his plans, as seen in her entry in ''Stryfe's Strike Files''. Ironically Stryfe died before Siena was even formally introduced to readers.
763* TooPowerfulToLive: Outright stated in her early appearances due to her power wreaking havoc on the Earth's electromagnetic field with every use.
764* VillainDecay: The Upstarts competition seems to be the only thing that Siena feels gives her life any purpose or meaning. After the Gamesmaster disbanded the group, she was seen still trying to keep the competition going, even though there was no one left to award her any points or any prize to claim with them. She was completely at a loose end until the group reformed, even though they fought without any teamwork against the X-Men.
765[[/folder]]
766
767[[folder:Gamesmaster]]
768!!Gamesmaster
769[[quoteright:196:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gamesmaster.jpg]]
770!!!'''Aliases:''' Harold Smith, Jeremy Stevens
771!!!'''Nationality:''' American
772!!!'''Species:''' Human mutant
773!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''Uncanny X-Men'' #283 (1991)
774
775-> ''Okay then, [[ComicBook/{{Cable}} Nathan]]... To you, and to [[ComicBook/ProfessorX Charlie]], and [[ComicBook/NewWarriors Dwayne Taylor]] -- To [[ComicBook/XFactor Forge]], and [[Characters/XMenAcolytes Exodus]], and Mr. Sinister -- To all of you out there -- Let the game begin!''
776\
777A mutant "omnipath" whose {{Telepathy}} is so advanced that he is constant contact with every mind on Earth simultaneously -- [[PowerIncontinence and he can't turn it off]]. To stave off GoMadFromTheRevelation, he joins forces with Selene to organize the Upstarts, and serves as the arbitrator of the DeadlyGame they play. He provides the AntagonistTitle for the 1995 UsefulNotes/GameGear game ''X-Men: [=GamesMaster's=] Legacy'', though he [[TheGhost never appears]] in the game itself.
778----
779* AbortedArc: Jeph Loeb's run on ''ComicBook/XForce'' presented a backstory for the Gamesmaster in which he was actually a young boy named Jeremy Stevens who was physically trapped in a mental institution. This was immediately discarded, perhaps because it was more than a little bit of a ripoff of Creator/ChrisClaremont's own AbortedArc origin for his villain Mr. Sinister.
780* AstralProjection: He's more than capable of this with his powers, and when he appears he's usually WreathedInFlames for no particular reason.
781* BaldOfEvil: He's the classic example of a ChromeDomePsi and is in league with some very nasty people, though he's not a particularly nasty guy himself.
782* BigBadWannabe: Oh, he's definitely powerful, but it's doubtful he's as powerful as he pretends to be. Despite making a BadassBoast about being able to control every mind on Earth if he wanted, he struggled to control just the New Warriors and X-Force during the "Child's Play" story, and while he was later able to control all of Salem Center, he was also distracted enough for his control to slip. He also turned into a DirtyCoward when Siryn threatened to stab a body he was using for PeoplePuppets, implying he could be killed if a body he was inhabiting was killed before he could withdraw from it.
783* TheCameo: He made a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance in ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'' as one of the telepaths captured by ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} during the "Beyond Good and Evil" 4-part episode.
784* ChronicVillainy: The Upstarts story ended with Husk convincing him to abandon the competition and try playing a more constructive game by finding and guiding the next generation of mutants, which he delightedly agreed to. Yet future appearances by him would see him slide back into his usual petty SuperDickery.
785* CripplingOverspecialization: Unlike other high-order telepaths, he struggles with any other application of his powers beyond basic listen/speak telepathy. This means that, unlike other telepaths on his level like Professor X and Emma Frost, he has to keep his physical body far away from danger at all times. Fortunately for him, that's an easy thing to do with his powers.
786* DeadlyGame: He's the arbiter of the Upstarts, who are HuntingTheMostDangerousGame for points and a nebulous "prize" offered by Selene.
787* DirtyCoward: He stays far away from danger and the one time he was threatened with physical harm, he immediately withdrew his presence.
788* TheFinalTemptation: He tempted the X-Men with one of these at one point, sans ComicBook/JeanGrey who was too powerful to be fooled by him.
789* GameMaster: It's literally his codename, and he certainly styles himself as a trollish DM playing with the lives of his players capriciously.
790* HearingVoices: Billions of them. ''All the time''.
791* ItAmusedMe: Aside from the necessity of a distraction, he sticks around with the Upstarts after they get rid of Selene because he finds them and their interactions with each other amusing. He's prone to throwing the odd wrench in their plans, such as tricking Fabian Cortez into confessing to murdering Magneto with one of his eavesdropping followers listening in, for the same reason.
792* LivingADoubleLife: The end of the "Child's Play" story implied that he leads one of these, showing him with a picture of himself and two other people, a blond-haired woman and a young boy who were most likely his wife and son.
793* MyRuleFuIsStrongerThanYours: At the climax of the "Child's Play" story he declares himself the winner of the Upstarts game and that X-Force and the New Warriors have to die, not because he wants to kill them but just because those are the rules he set. But Husk breaks out her own Rule-Fu and convinces the Gamesmaster to try playing a different game.
794* NonActionBigBad: An extreme example, as he has no other powers besides his telepathy. How extreme? ''No one has even met him in person yet''.
795* NonMaliciousMonster: He has no particular grudge against the X-Men and doesn't wish harm on them, he's just got way too much power and is too much of a {{Troll}} to vent it in harmless ways.
796* TheOmniscient: When you're in constant contact with every mind on Earth, very little surprises or escapes you.
797* PowerIncontinence: He has no way of shutting off his super-telepathy, leaving him with no choice but to find ''distractions'' for himself lest he go mad.
798* PowerLimiter: He wears cybernetic implants at his temples to modulate his powers. Unfortunately, even the strongest Limiters can't modulate them to the point of allowing him to turn them off.
799* PsychicPowers: He possesses an aberrant, extremely powerful variant of telepathy titled "Omnipathy".
800* PutOnABus: After the end of the "Child's Play" story he hopped on one of these and has spent [[LongBusTrip most of his time since]] on one, hopping off only very infrequently for the odd X-person run-in.
801* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Creator/PeterDavid's 2nd run on ''ComicBook/XFactor'' introduced a character called the Isolationist whose backstory was very nearly a direct copypaste of the Gamesmaster's (extremely powerful telepath is cursed to listen to everyone on Earth and can't turn it off, becomes a supervillain to cope with it) but with the added bonus of having MegaManning powers as well.
802* {{Troll}}: He clearly enjoyed needling the self-important Upstarts and throwing wrenches into their plans "to keep the game interesting".
803* UnknownCharacter: In [=GamesMaster's=] Legacy''. He is referred to in the title and is stated to be the BigBad in the game manual, but he is never seen or mentioned within the game itself and the FinalBoss turns out to be [[spoiler:Stryfe]].
804* TheWatcher: Back when he was still in circulation he would use his omnipathy to observe important events, such as when Shatterstar fused with Benjamin Russell.
805[[/folder]]
806
807!Later members
808
809[[folder:Adrienne Frost]]
810!!Adrienne Frost / White Queen II
811[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/384507_154743_adrienne_frost.jpg]]
812!!!'''Nationality:''' American
813!!!'''Species:''' Human mutant
814!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''Generation X'' #48 (December, 1998)
815
816-> ''Emma dear, family is for people who can't make friends on their own.''
817\
818The older sister of Emma Frost. A ruthless corporate raider willingly molded in her father's image, she joined the Hellfire Club as its White Queen after falling out with her sister and the kids of ComicBook/GenerationX. Treacherous and conniving, she backstabbed everyone who crossed her path, including the Hellfire Club themselves. Eventually her double-dealing caught up with her, however, and after causing the death of one of Emma's students the old White Queen shot the new one dead.
819----
820-> See Characters/EmmaFrost
821[[/folder]]
822
823[[folder:Holocaust]]
824!!William Rolfson / Nemesis / Holocaust
825[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/holocaust_1.png]]
826!!!'''Nationality:''' American
827!!!'''Species:''' Human mutant
828!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''X-Men: Alpha'' #1 (1995)
829
830-> ''I see that you are the sort of commander who understands that wars are not won in a single battle, Shaw. I'll... respect that. For now.''
831\
832The time-displaced son of ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} from the ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse. An associate of the Club rather than an actual member, Holocaust was tracked down by Sebastian Shaw after falling to Earth in a fearsome battle with Exodus of [[Characters/XMenAcolytes Magneto's Acolytes]]. Shaw built Holocaust a new containment suit in exchange for his service, but that service didn't last for long, as ComicBook/{{Onslaught}} soon arrived to make Holocaust a better offer.
833----
834-> See Characters/AgeOfApocalypse and Characters/XMenRoguesGalleryAToI
835[[/folder]]
836
837[[folder:Madelyne Pryor]]
838!!Madelyne Jennifer Pryor / Anodyne / Goblyn Queen / Black Rook / Red Queen
839[[quoteright:304:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/madelyne_pryor.jpg]]
840!!!'''Nationality:''' American
841!!!'''Species:''' Human mutant clone
842!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''Uncanny X-Men'' #168 (1983, original), ''X-Man'' #22 (1996, joined Hellfire)
843
844-> ''I see no fire, Tessa, no flame... Except for the ComicBook/Inferno1988 itself.'' -- Sebastian Shaw
845\
846The first wife of ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} and a woman who was seemingly the spitting image of ComicBook/JeanGrey... because as it [[RetCon turned out]] she was actually Jean's clone. After being used as the BigBad for the ''Inferno'' event and being KilledOffForReal for several years, Madelyne was resurrected in the pages of the ''X-Man'' title, where she was brought into the Hellfire Club as Black Rook by Selene. Never a woman to let herself be used, Pryor turned the invitation to her own advantage, forging an alliance with Sebastian Shaw and leaving her former patron in the dust before departing the Club itself because it turns out that EveryoneHasStandards, even clones.
847----
848-> See [[Characters/MarvelComicsMadelynePryor Madelyne Pryor]]
849[[/folder]]
850
851[[folder:Courtney Ross]]
852!!Courtney Ross / Opul Lun Sat-Yr-9 / White Queen III
853[[quoteright:189:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/annotation_2020_04_09_162120_9.png]]
854!!!'''Nationality:''' English
855!!!'''Species:''' Human
856!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''Uncanny X-Men'' #449 (2004)
857\
858A CanonForeigner who is originally the problem of Comicbook/{{Excalibur}}, the woman known as Courtney Ross is actually an alternate reality counterpart from Earth-794 who killed the real Courtney Ross and usurped her identity. Sat-Yr-9 was a ruthless dictator in her own reality but she got deposed and has come to Earth-616 through a PortalDoor in the multiverse to evade execution and start anew with a different position of power somewhere no one knows who she is.
859
860Even though she still goes by "Courtney Ross", ComicBook/CaptainBritain (Psylocke's brother) and his team are completely aware of the fact that Sat-Yr-9 is an impostor and have already battled her but she managed to escape and is now the new White Queen, and has appointed Madame Hydra as her personal aide and bodyguard as the "White Princess".
861
862She keeps her arrogant and ruthless behavior and still ranks high on Captain Britain's hitlist for having killed his girlfriend, even though he hasn't gotten track of her yet.
863----
864-> See Characters/CaptainBritainEnemies
865[[/folder]]
866
867[[folder:Reeva Payge / Black Queen]]
868!!Reeva Payge
869[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ea2ef41d_5799_451b_9f0c_e35173521544.jpeg]]
870 [[caption-width-right:350:]]
871!!!'''Nationality:''' American
872!!!'''Species:''' Human mutant
873!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''X-Men Annual'' #3 (August, 1994)
874Shinobi’s Black Queen when he took over the New York chapter of the Hellfire Club from his father.
875
876----
877* BrownNote: Her mutant power was to use her voice to emit a high pitch frequency that would disrupt the targets brain’s chemistry and distort their perception of reality.
878[[/folder]]
879
880[[folder:Benedict Kine / White King]]
881!!Benedict Kine
882[[quoteright:216:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/benedict_kine.jpg]]
883 [[caption-width-right:216:]]
884!!!'''Nationality:''' American
885!!!'''Species:''' Human mutant
886!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''X-Men Annual'' #3 (August, 1994)
887Shinobi’s White King when he took over the New York chapter of the Hellfire Club from his father.
888
889----
890* TheCoup: Disatisfied with Shinobi’s leadership, he attempted one, unsuccseful.
891* MindRape: Benedict could use his powers to control the nervous system of his targets, increasing the pain or pleasure sensation.
892 [[/folder]]
893
894[[folder:Benazir Kaur / White Queen]]
895!!Benazir Kaur
896[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/benazir_kaur.jpg]]
897 [[caption-width-right:320:]]
898!!!'''Nationality:''' American
899!!!'''Species:''' Human mutant
900!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''X-Men Annual'' #3 (August, 1994)
901Shinobi’s White Queen when he took over the New York chapter of the Hellfire Club from his father.
902
903----
904* {{Plaguemaster}}: Her mutant power allows her to accelerate the metabolism of her targets. She could use it to accelerate disease progress, like causing Gambit to suffer an advanced stage lung cancer. This can be reversed if she is knocked unconscious.
905 [[/folder]]
906
907[[folder:Briar Raleigh / Black Bishop]]
908!!Briar Raleigh
909
910[[quoteright:653:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d9787821_a9f1_405e_826c_d046b33dd659.jpeg]]
911 [[caption-width-right:653:]]
912
913!!!'''Nationality:''' American
914!!!'''Species:''' Human mutant
915!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''Magneto'' #5 (June, 2014)
916A human ally of Magneto’s who joined the Hellfire Club during the threat of M-Pox.
917* {{Cyborg}}: She has Shi’ar technology implanted in her body.
918[[/folder]]
919[[folder: Siobhan]]
920!!Siobhan
921[[quoteright:828:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fc9c86a4_eaf7_4a6b_8735_c5975dbb35cf.jpeg]]
922 [[caption-width-right:828:]]
923!!!'''Nationality:''' American
924!!!'''Species:''' Human
925!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''Immortal X-Men'' #14 (August, 2023)
926Sebastian Shaw's assistant at the start of the ''ComicBook/FallOfX'' era.
927----
928* ArtificialLimbs: She appears to have a robotic left hand.
929* InsistentAppellation: Shaw keeps calling her “New Tessa” even after she reminds him that her name is Siobhan.
930
931[[/folder]]
932
933
934
935
936!! Black King Emma’s recruits
937[[folder:Mystique]]
938!!Raven Darkholme / Mystique / White King
939[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dcf37b97_9caf_486e_9426_cb8169b06675.jpeg]]
940
941----
942-> See Characters/XMenBrotherhoodOfMutants
943[[/folder]]
944
945[[folder:Elixir]]
946!!Joshua Foley / Elixer / Black Bishop
947[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3e186980_d0b9_46be_a99d_1420d8cd5c35.jpeg]]
948
949----
950-> See Characters/NewXMenAcademyX
951[[/folder]]
952
953[[folder:Marrow]]
954!!Sarah / Marrow / Black Knight
955[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/437941f4_641a_4960_b926_4201fdff785b.jpeg]]
956
957----
958-> See Characters/XMen90sMembers
959[[/folder]]
960
961[[folder:Vanisher]]
962!!Telford Porter / Vanisher / White Bishop
963[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0020bc7f_c7b7_4928_b673_fa441dc75d1d.jpeg]]
964
965----
966-> See Characters/XForce
967[[/folder]]
968
969!!Hellfire Trading Company recruits
970
971[[folder:Kate Pryde]]
972!!Captain Kate Pryde / Red Queen
973[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1ce2beeb_6b2d_4e59_9056_dad129ca2538.jpeg]]
974
975----
976-> See Characters/MarvelComicsKittyPryde
977[[/folder]]
978
979[[folder:Bishop]]
980!!Lucas Bishop / Bishop / Red Bishop
981[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/85d61519_de65_4b29_b5bc_1d5a195bc7b2.jpeg]]
982
983----
984-> See Characters/XMen90sMembers
985[[/folder]]
986
987[[folder:Christian Frost]]
988!!Christian Frost / White Bishop
989[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/christian_frost_xmen.jpg]]
990!!!'''Nationality:''' American
991!!!'''Species:''' Human mutant
992!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''New X-Men'' #139 (June, 2003)
993
994The eldest sibling of the Frost family, Christian and his sister [[Comicbook/EmmaFrost Emma]] were the only two members to actually get along with each other. After losing contact following Emma joining the Hellfire Club and Christian being committed by his father due to being gay, they eventually reconnected and discovered that Christian was also a mutant with the ability to create constructs of astral energy. With the founding of the mutant nation of Krakoa, Christian has joined his sister as part of the Hellfire Trading Company, serving as the organization's White Bishop.
995----
996-> See Characters/EmmaFrost
997[[/folder]]
998
999[[folder:Callisto]]
1000!!Callisto / White Knight
1001[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/b0d59d06_193d_4fe5_8d6d_9bffc72c454e.jpeg]]
1002
1003-> See Characters/XMenMorlocks
1004[[/folder]]
1005
1006[[folder:The Five in One]]
1007!! Sophie, Phoebe, Irma/Mindee, Celeste , and Esme Cuckoo a.k.a The White Queen
1008[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ba456949_0f05_4c80_9275_58a4a3fcc3ea.jpeg]]
1009 [[caption-width-right:350:]]
1010The Cuckoos took over Emma’s role in the Hellfire Trading Company so Emma could focus on her responsibilities on the Quiet Council
1011
1012See Characters/NewXMenAcademyX
1013[[/folder]]
1014
1015!! Kingpins Hellfire Club
1016[[folder:Wilson Fisk]]
1017!!Wilson Fisk / Kingpin / White King
1018[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/16c45e76_5c8a_4f62_b0f4_caca3eb9e5cb.jpeg]]
1019 [[caption-width-right:350:]]
1020!!!'''Nationality:''' American
1021!!!'''Species:''' Human
1022!!!'''First Appearance:'''''The Amazing Spider-Man'' Vol. 1 #50 (July, 1967)''
1023After the destruction of Krakoa, Emma correctly assumed her assets would be seized as she became enemy of the state. So she reallocated them to Fisk and had him appointed White King in order to oust Sebastian Shaw.
1024
1025[[Characters/MarvelComicsTheKingpin See Here]]
1026[[/folder]]
1027
1028[[folder:Tony Stark]]
1029!!Anthony Stark / Iron Man / Black King
1030
1031[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ebb0d618_3602_43bd_9ff8_3760082d3772.jpeg]]
1032!!!'''Nationality:''' American
1033!!!'''Species:''' Human
1034!!!'''First Appearance:'''''Tales of Suspense'' Vol. 1 #39 (December, 1962)''
1035Wilson Fisks appointed Black King during ComicBook/FallOfX
1036
1037[[Characters/IronManHeroes See Here]]
1038[[/folder]]

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