Warlock (New Mutants)
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Warlock is a fictional character, a cybernetic alien superhero in the Marvel Comics universe, affiliated with the original New Mutants, a mutant superhero team. He was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Bill Sienkewicz, and first appeared in New Mutants #21 (November 1984).
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[edit] Fictional character biography
Warlock is a member of the alien Technarchy, a race of mechanical organisms that survive by infecting living creatures with the "techno-organic" transmode virus, before draining the life energy ("lifeglow") of the infected organism. Warlock, unlike others of his race, possesses a distinctive degree of compassion, and as a result has been described as a mutant himself. He is the son of the Technarch ruler, Magus, who has battled the New Mutants and the X-Men. Warlock served as a member of the original New Mutants for much of that group's existence, and became the best friend of his teammate Doug Ramsey, alias Cypher, until Doug's death at the hands of the Ani-Mator. He continued to serve with the team, serving with distinction during the crisis known as Inferno. Warlock was subsequently killed on the island nation of Genosha by Cameron Hodge during a failed attempt to steal his powers.
Warlock had a distinctive way of talking during his stint in the New Mutants comics, frequently referring to himself with the personal pronoun "self", and to his teammates as "selffriends". Doug, thanks to selflessly offering his life energy to keep Warlock alive during a dangerous mission in Asgard earned the unique honorific title of "selfsoulfriend" or "selfsoulfriendcypherdoug".
[edit] Douglock
Later, a group of humans called the Phalanx appeared. This group had been mutated into techno-organic forms via the transmode virus, which had been extracted from Warlock's corpse. One of the Phalanx was Douglock, a lookalike of Doug Ramsey who had all of Doug's memories. Douglock joined the European mutant superhero team Excalibur. While his team-mates were unnerved by his similarity to Doug, Douglock was eventually accepted as his own person. He acted as a tutor to Meggan and enjoyed a brief romance with fellow teammate Wolfsbane.
It was later revealed that Douglock was actually a reanimated Warlock who had been given Doug's memories. He then reverted to the name of Warlock and began a career as a solo adventurer, briefly starring in his own title, Warlock, written by Louise Simonson (who had previously been responsible for killing off both Doug and the original Technarchy Warlock) and drawn by Paschalis Ferry. During his adventures, Warlock was joined by a young girl named Hope whom he had unwittingly infected with the Techo-organic virus along with her pet monkey and a novice psychic named Psimon.
Moira MacTaggert and Wolfsbane were strong supporting characters. Shadowcat, Spider-Man and Iron Man even made appereances over the course of the series. Warlock's adversaries included, but were not limited to, Psimon's old super-powered allies, an altered form of Bastion and Warlock's parent Magus.
It is unknown if Warlock retained his mutant powers during the M-Day.
[edit] Appearances in other media
[edit] Television
Warlock in his original incarnation appeared in the Phalanx Covenant two-part episode of the X-Men animated series.
[edit] Alternate versions
[edit] Ultimate Doug Ramsey
In the Ultimate X-Men "Magnetic North" storyline, Doug Ramsey appears. Whether or not this will lead into the Technarchy storyline is to be determined. In this continuity, Doug Ramsey is based on Ken Jennings (of Jeopardy! fame) and is not a mutant; he is simply a staggeringly intelligent human being. Warlock made a cameo appearance in one issue, where he was seen fighting the X-Men in a gigantic form. However, this served primarily as an in-joke.
