Stryfe
Real Name: Well, in a way, it's Nathan Dayspring Summers...
First Appearance: New Mutants 87
Died In: X-Force 18, where his body was destroyed by a temporal rift, and Cable 8, where he voluntarily withdrew his mental hold on Cable. Not that I'd be surprised if he showed up again, him being a time traveler an' all.
What's His Problem? An anarchist from the distant future, Stryfe came to the 20th century to confront those who actions in the past made him what he was. This caused him to torment Jean Grey and Scott Summers, who were his genetic if not his biological parents, and Apocalypse, the being ultimately responsible for his creation. He was also determined to destroy Cable, whom he resented for being the "real" Nathan. On top of all that, he had serious abandonment issues.
Powers: No slouch in hand-to-hand combat, Stryfe was also a first class telekinetic and telepath, possibly even in Charles Xavier's league. He could contain Jean Grey's powers even while he was on another planet confronting Apocalypse. His true potential may be equivalent to that of Nathan Grey, the powerful X-Man from the displaced Age of Apocalypse time-line. Stryfe also had the subliminal ability to bring out the poseur in every artist that worked on the Executioner's Song saga, striking more dramatic poses more often than any Marvel character since the Jack Kirby days.
Heroes He Kept Running Into: His genetic double, Cable, was his primary foe, making Cable's X-Force team his usual secondary targets. Stryfe could keep all the X-groups tied in knots when he felt like it, though, and thrash Apocalypse as an afterthought while he was at it.
Favorite Quote: "Come now, little pebble...get a grip!" (Cable ltd. series 2, after Weapon X ... um, threw his hands at the bad guy. As Deadpool said after a similar situation, "Gross!")
People Who Think He's Not So Bad: The silent teleporting entity known as Zero rarely left Stryfe's side, although it resisted Stryfe when its full programming reasserted itself. Stryfe also led the Mutant Liberation Front for a time, but his distraction with things Summers left that group leaderless at a crucial point, resulting in the capture or death of several of its members. And, at the last minute, Cyclops began to have a glimmer of what was driving Stryfe, but by then it was too late for him to interfere in the fatal struggle between Stryfe and Cable.
Most Despicable Act: Stryfe created the Legacy virus. Its deadly sweep through mutant-dom makes him responsible for the illnesses of a number of people, including some high-profile folks like Magik, Maverick, Multiple Man, and Moira MacTaggert. (Makes you wonder if he has a vendetta against the letter 'M,' eh?) He also infected Charles Xavier with a techno-virus that mimicked the one afflicting Cable, while simultaneously throwing a wretch into mutant/human relations with his public "assassination" attempt on Xavier.
