The Legacy Virus is a fictional plague appearing in American comic books featuring the X-Men published by Marvel Comics . It first appeared in an eponymous storyline in Marvel Comics titles, from 1993 to 2001, during which it swept through the mutant population of the Marvel Universe , killing hundreds, as well as mutating so that it affected non-mutant humans as well.
103-397: The Legacy Virus, contrary to the name, was a viroid and was released by Stryfe , a terrorist (and clone of Cable raised by Apocalypse ) from approximately 2,000 years in the future. It originally existed in two forms, Legacy-1 and Legacy-2 , but later mutated into a third form, Legacy-3 ; all were airborne agents. Legacy-1 and Legacy-2 searched for a target organism's "X-factor,"
206-424: A ribozyme . Viroid-like satellite RNAs are infectious circular RNA molecules that depend on a carrier virus to reproduce, being carried in their capsids . Like Avsunviroidae, however, they are capable of self-clevage. "Ambiviruses" are mobile genetic elements that were recently (2020s) discovered in fungi . Their RNA genomes are circular, circa 5 kb in length. One of at least two open reading frames encodes
309-502: A confrontation at the Pentagon ends with Mystique being defeated and turned over to the authorities by a powerless Ms. Marvel. The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants eventually escape, and battle against Dazzler . In an act of revenge against Mystique, Mastermind unbalances Rogue's psyche with the one she absorbed from Ms. Marvel, which prompts her to defect to the X-Men. Because Rogue left without
412-590: A demonic force, targets Mystique after finding out she was responsible for sending his soul there at the behest of The Red Right Hand. Mystique is shot by a hit-man named Lord Deathstrike. Badly wounded, Mystique patches herself and escapes on a motorcycle. Wolverine and Lord Deathstrike are in hot pursuit of Mystique throughout the San Francisco streets simultaneously. Mystique ultimately confronts Wolverine, who stabs her with his claws, killing her. Lord Deathstrike collects Mystique's body and auctions it off. Her corpse
515-431: A distance. Raven keeps track of his activities until he reaches adolescence. Despite being the child of two mutants, Graydon is not a mutant himself. Mystique is disappointed and soon abandons him. Graydon grows to hate his parents, and eventually extends his hatred to all mutants. He becomes leader of the mutant-hating organization Friends of Humanity , and then a politician. At the height of his political ascension, Graydon
618-513: A failed attempt to kill Legion for his murdering of Destiny. Mystique has an implant put in her skull by Forge in order for the government to be able to keep track of her. She is then forced to become a member of the government-sponsored team X-Factor after being arrested for trying to blow up a dam. In truth, Mystique had been trying to save the dam, which the U.S. Government wanted to destroy so that they could blame it on mutants. Her membership leads to tension with her teammates when Sabretooth
721-509: A highly base-paired rod-like structure"—believed to be the first such molecule described. Circular RNA, unlike linear RNA, forms a covalently closed continuous loop, in which the 3' and 5' ends present in linear RNA molecules have been joined. Sanger et al. also provided evidence for the true circularity of viroids by finding that the RNA could not be phosphorylated at the 5' terminus. In other tests, they failed to find even one free 3' end, which ruled out
824-405: A lover. His infertility adds to their marital problems. Mystique starts using her shapeshifting powers to secretly have sexual encounters with others. From early on, Irene Adler also joined the household as a common housekeeper, secretly Mystique's true lover. Mystique begins an affair with fellow mutant Azazel , pretending to be seduced. Azazel states that he is ruler of "an island nation off
927-551: A male body for the act of conception), but Marvel didn't agree, because at that time the Comics Code Authority prohibited the explicit portrayal of gay or bisexual characters. This storyline would then be made canon in November 2023. Mystique's origins remain unknown: her shapeshifting powers mean that her true age remains enigmatic. Her earliest attested appearance dates back to the years around 1900, when she lived in
1030-406: A male guise as a "consulting detective" who established a romantic relationship with her reality's version of Irene Adler , biographical details which imply she is in fact Sherlock Holmes , an implication confirmed by 2022. While in her Raven persona, Mystique adopts the identity of deceased German secret agent Leni Zauber. Both Leni and Victor Creed, A.K.A. Sabretooth , had been assigned with
1133-459: A man in a busy office workplace. Mystique is arrested. The U.S. Government acts on their intelligence regarding Mystique, and destroys all of the alternate identities that she established over the years and confiscate the money she and Destiny had hidden away. The loss of her powers and her freedom causes her to lash out at everyone around her. Rogue has no sympathy for Mystique's plight. The relationship sours when Rogue refuses to tell Mystique that
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#17328524769521236-481: A messy and non-selective process that resulted in a condition akin to a fast-replicating cancer . This is the version that infected Illyana "Magik" Rasputin , sister of Piotr "Colossus" Rasputin . Legacy-2 was much closer to Stryfe's original template and more in tune with his desire to stir a species war between non-mutant humans and mutants. Its attacks were selective, working only on the X-factor genes. The net result
1339-459: A nearby building frame Mystique for the murder of a Japanese diplomat. With help from Shadowcat and Rogue, Mystique is cleared and leaves town. Before she leaves, Shadowcat finds one of Destiny's diaries , left there by Destiny herself before she died. While gaining critical intelligence on the identity of those who were involved in her son's death and the attempt to kill her using Sabretooth, Mystique suddenly loses her powers while pretending to be
1442-403: A new wave of anti-mutant violence. Sabretooth acts on his orders to kill the members of X-Factor as "Operation Zero Tolerance" is activated. Mystique distracts Sabretooth long enough to keep him from finishing off the team. Mystique then flees the scene after arranging for X-Factor to receive medical treatment for the wounds Sabretooth inflicted. Mystique goes into hiding, taking the identity of
1545-461: A pointed tail. After showing her true form to him, the locals consider Mystique and the child to be demons and attempt to kill them. Mystique escapes but hides her son briefly, intending to help Destiny escape then return for him. Destiny had escaped on her own, however, and by the time Mystique returned for their son, he is missing. He is found and raised by Roma sorceress Margali Szardos and named Kurt Wagner . Mystique learned that conceiving Kurt
1648-527: A popularized piece that mistakenly credited Flores et al. with the hypothesis' original conception. In January 2024, biologists reported the discovery of " obelisks ", a new class of viroid-like elements, and "oblins", their related group of proteins, in the human microbiome . Mystique (character) Mystique is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist David Cockrum ,
1751-593: A presidential pardon for all criminal charges, to be revoked if any member of Freedom Force is found committing a crime. Cooper agrees to convey the offer to the President on the condition that the Brotherhood arrests their founder, Magneto . The Brotherhood, now reincarnated as Freedom Force , are defeated by Magneto and the X-Men. When Magneto learns that Freedom Force are official federal agents, he voluntarily surrenders to them. Mystique leads Freedom Force in capturing
1854-460: A protein coat. Viroids are extremely small, from 246 to 467 nucleotides, smaller than other infectious plant pathogens; they thus consist of fewer than 10,000 atoms. In comparison, the genomes of the smallest known viruses capable of causing an infection by themselves are around 2,000 nucleotides long. In 1976, Sanger et al. presented evidence that potato spindle tuber viroid is a "single-stranded, covalently closed, circular RNA molecule, existing as
1957-411: A review article by Flores et al., in which the authors summarized Diener's evidence supporting his hypothesis as: The presence, in extant cells, of RNAs with molecular properties predicted for RNAs of the RNA world constitutes another powerful argument supporting the RNA world hypothesis. However, the origins of viroids themselves from this RNA world has been cast into doubt by several factors, including
2060-548: A sad goodbye kiss and Mystique leaves. After Mystique is gone, Forge realizes that she had already switched his transmitter for the fake one. Mystique later infiltrates the X-Men, posing as a young girl named Foxx and joining Gambit 's training squad, the Chevaliers. She attempts to seduce Rogue's boyfriend Gambit to break them up so she can set her daughter up with a young mutant named Augustus , but Gambit resists. Mystique ultimately reveals herself to him, telling him that she
2163-419: A short leash; should she try anything, Osborn would turn her into a human bomb. After the defection of Emma Frost , Namor , and Cloak and Dagger , Mystique leads the remaining members of the team under the public guise of Jean Grey , as no one could prove Jean had actually died, but mainly to hurt those who had caused her great harm. Wolverine, having returned from hell and retrieved his possessed body from
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#17328524769522266-523: A time delay weapon, which she is about to program to kill Graydon. After some deliberation, she decides to activate the weapon to kill Graydon. Mystique's sanity is further damaged by the revelation that Destiny was one of the founding members of the anti-mutant conspiracy Mystique had dedicated countless years to fighting, and had willfully withheld medical treatment to mutant children that would have resulted in them not growing up deformed due to their mutations. This leads to Raven again going mad. She reforms
2369-674: A viral RNA-directed RNA polymerase , that firmly places "ambiviruses" into ribovirian kingdom Orthornavirae ; a separate phylum Ambiviricota has been established since the 2023 ICTV Virus Taxonomy Release because of the unique features of encoding RNA-directed RNA polymerases but also having divergent ribozymes in various combinations in both sense and antisense orientation – the detection of circular forms in both sense orientations suggest that "ambiviruses" use rolling circle replication for propagation. "Retroviroids", more formally "retroviroid-like elements", are viroid-like circular RNA sequences that are also found with homologous copies in
2472-440: A word, Mystique assumes that Professor X , the X-Men's mentor, brainwashed her. The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants accordingly launches an attempt to kill Professor X. Rogue stops Mystique, and explains that she joined the X-Men because Professor X, as the world's most powerful telepath , is her best hope of healing for her fragmented psyche. Mystique reluctantly relinquishes her guardianship of Rogue. Anti-mutant sentiment rises and
2575-469: Is a subviral agent similar in structure to a viroid, as it is a hybrid particle enclosed by surface proteins from the hepatitis B virus . As of 2005 : Viroids are only known to infect plants, and infectious viroids can be transmitted to new plant hosts by aphids , by cross contamination following mechanical damage to plants as a result of horticultural or agricultural practices, or from plant to plant by leaf contact. Upon infection, viroids replicate in
2678-497: Is added to the team months later as a sleeper agent , for the main purpose of killing Mystique before she can uncover the truth about the conspiracy. She slowly develops a romantic relationship with team-leader Forge (though he later thought that she was just using him). Part of the conspiracy involves Mystique's son Graydon Creed running for President, under an anti-mutant platform. At the same time, both Graydon and Mystique learn that Destiny married and had children during one of
2781-454: Is also why Destiny is unaware she gave birth to Kurt; and even Xavier is unaware of these events because he considered this a private matter and supposedly also deleted his memory of this encounter. Mystique revealed the true events to Nightcrawler after her true memories reasserted themselves some time after resisting a psychic push by Xavier and falling off a cliff at the 3rd Hellfire Gala. The experience left her mentally unstable, until she
2884-425: Is assassinated by an unknown shooter. The shooter is later revealed to be a time traveling version of Mystique as part of a convoluted time paradox involving Jean Grey , Iceman , Toad , and Juggernaut . Still masquerading as Raven, Mystique is married to Baron Christian Wagner (older sources give his name as Count Eric Wagner), an affluent German noble . He proves to be a loving husband, but disappointing as
2987-463: Is no extracellular form of these elements; instead, they are spread only through pollen or egg-cells. They appear to co-occur with a pararetrovirus . After applying metatranscriptomics – the computer-aided search for RNA sequences and their analysis – biologists reported in January 2024 the discovery of " obelisks ", a new class of viroid-like elements, and "oblins", their related group of proteins, in
3090-515: Is now called potato spindle tuber viroid, abbreviated PSTVd. The Citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd) was discovered soon thereafter, and together understanding of PSTVd and CEVd shaped the concept of the viroid. Although viroids are composed of nucleic acid, they do not code for any protein . The viroid's replication mechanism uses RNA polymerase II , a host cell enzyme normally associated with synthesis of messenger RNA from DNA, which instead catalyzes " rolling circle " synthesis of new RNA using
3193-596: Is sold for 5 million to group of ninjas. It is implied these are agents of The Hand . Mystique is seen alive again posing as Sabretooth at Los Angeles International Airport . In the form of Sabretooth she has agreed to assist the Hellfire Club in their destruction of the Jean Grey School. Mystique, as Sabretooth, was a faculty member of The Hellfire Academy. When the Hand revived Mystique, her powers were enhanced and she
Legacy Virus - Misplaced Pages Continue
3296-557: Is strongly suggested to be an allegory for the AIDS epidemic . Although all strains of the Legacy Virus were more dangerous than HIV , they shared similar symptoms such as skin lesions, fever, fatigue, and coughing. In addition, comics featuring the Legacy Virus illustrated the similar social impact of the further isolation of a stigmatized group. The Legacy Virus first appeared in X-Force #18. It
3399-513: Is to eradicate all humans. Mystique is sent to prison, but quickly escapes. She allies herself with Martinique Jason in an attempt to wrest control of the X-Corps from its founder, Banshee . Outfitted with a device that gives her the ability to generate an electrical charge, Mystique creates the identity of a supervillain named Surge and joins the X-Corps. While Jason mind-controls the other members of
3502-552: Is to later be Stryfe's virus, or merely engineering a new one with a similar purpose. In X-Force #7, the Vanisher is seen to be in possession of a mutated strain of the Legacy Virus. It was later destroyed by Elixir in X-Force #10. During the Skrull Invasion of Earth, Beast discovers that the Legacy Virus can infect Skrulls as well. Beast ponders whether to use it against the invading aliens. Cyclops decides to use it to get
3605-510: Is trying to relieve the tension between him and Rogue (because of the two being unable to touch due to her ability to absorb someone's essence upon skin-to-skin contact). Mystique then metamorphoses into Rogue and tells Gambit that he would not be cheating on Rogue if he had sex with her in Rogue's form. When the telepath Emma Frost discovers who Foxx really is, the X-Men confront Mystique. Mystique tells them that she had been lonely and wants to join
3708-567: The X-Cutioner's Song crossover, the villain Stryfe gave Mister Sinister a canister that he claimed contained 2,000 years worth of genetic material from the Summers bloodline. When Gordon Lefferts, a scientist working for Sinister, opened the canister after Stryfe was apparently killed by Cable , they found nothing inside. Far worse than that, the canister actually contained a plague, Stryfe's "legacy" to
3811-502: The Blob , Destiny, and Pyro . The Brotherhood attempts to assassinate Senator Robert Kelly , a notoriously anti-mutant politician. The X-Men thwart the assassination attempt, and all of the Brotherhood except Mystique herself are incarcerated. Rogue is trained by Mystique and eventually joins the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Her mutant power is the ability to absorb the memories, personality, and skills or powers of whomever she touches. To free
3914-455: The Brotherhood of Mutants ' attack on Muir Island and did not live to complete the cure. Professor X did manage to telepathically retrieve the critical information before Moira died. With this information, Beast was able to synthesize the cure a few weeks later, though one that had a price; the virus had first been released by the death of the first victim, and the release of the cure would have
4017-527: The DNA genome of the host. The only types found are closely related to the original "carnation small viroid-like RNA" (CarSV). These elements may act as a homologous substrate upon which recombination may occur and are linked to double-stranded break repair . These elements are dubbed retroviroids as the homologous DNA is generated by reverse transcriptase that is encoded by retroviruses . They are neither true viroids nor viroid-like satellite RNAs : there
4120-566: The Reavers on Muir Island . On this particularly disastrous mission, Freedom Force loses two of its members, Stonewall and Mystique's lover Destiny. The death of her lover leaves Mystique psychologically scarred. Mystique is later nearly killed by Dr. Valerie Cooper, who is under the Shadow King 's mental control. She then impersonates Dr. Valerie Cooper. Mystique is eventually discovered impersonating Dr. Cooper, and saves Xavier's life by killing
4223-815: The Super Soldier experiment that created Captain America , using Beast's blood. The virus turns normal humans into super-strong beings, but is fatal to mutants, prompting Fury to hold Beast in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody to coerce him to find a cure for it, in the event that there is ever an outbreak. Viroid Pospiviroidae Avsunviroidae Viroids are small single-stranded, circular RNAs that are infectious pathogens. Unlike viruses , they have no protein coating. All known viroids are inhabitants of angiosperms (flowering plants), and most cause diseases, whose respective economic importance to humans varies widely. A recent metatranscriptomics study suggests that
Legacy Virus - Misplaced Pages Continue
4326-435: The human microbiome . Given that the RNA sequences recovered do not have homologies in any other known life form, the researchers suggest that the obelisks are distinct from viruses, viroids and viroid-like entities, and thus form an entirely new class of organisms. Diener's 1989 hypothesis had proposed that the unique properties of viroids make them more plausible macromolecules than introns , or other RNAs considered in
4429-600: The prokaryotes . Matches between viroid cccRNAs and CRISPR spacers suggest that some of them might replicate in prokaryotes. The development of tests based on ELISA , PCR , and nucleic acid hybridization has allowed for rapid and inexpensive detection of known viroids in biosecurity inspections , phytosanitary inspections , and quarantine . In the 1920s, symptoms of a previously unknown potato disease were noticed in New York and New Jersey fields. Because tubers on affected plants become elongated and misshapen, they named it
4532-611: The "submicroscopic" viruses). The unique properties of viroids have been recognized by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses , in creating a new order of subviral agents . The first recognized viroid, the pathogenic agent of the potato spindle tuber disease , was discovered, initially molecularly characterized, and named by Theodor Otto Diener , plant pathologist at the U.S Department of Agriculture's Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland, in 1971. This viroid
4635-627: The Avengers on behalf of the federal government. She clashes with X-Factor in seeking to arrest Rusty Collins . With Freedom Force, she fights the X-Men in Dallas, and witnesses her foster daughter's apparent demise . With Freedom Force, she battles Cyclops and Marvel Girl . With Freedom Force she seeks to arrest Rusty Collins again, and battles the New Mutants . She finally succeeds in capturing Collins as well as Skids . She leads Freedom Force against
4738-421: The Brotherhood and forces the team to flee. Mystique flees to Europe. While taking the form of a blonde haired woman, Mystique is confronted by a famous photographer who proposes to make her a big fashion model. Amused, Mystique accepts and quickly becomes the fashion industry's newest top model. Using her money, Mystique moves back to New York and into an expensive penthouse apartment. There, Skrulls staying in
4841-545: The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants for another assassination attempt on Senator Kelly, and kidnaps Moira MacTaggert and impersonates her to access her research on the Legacy Virus . Mystique uses samples of the Legacy Virus to create a biological weapon that would infect humans and not mutants, and develops a cure for the Legacy Virus. The assassination attempt on Kelly ends in failure when Pyro betrays his teammates. Mystique blows up MacTaggert's research facility, fatally injuring
4944-590: The Golden Gate bridge threatening to blow it up. Iceman arrives and discovers the reason for Mystique doing this is Wolverine telling her that she will die alone. After a heated conversation, Iceman freezes the bomb. Mystique jumps off the bridge into the water. Iceman tells Cyclops and Hank McCoy that he knows that she is not dead and thanks her for what she did for him. Mystique joins Norman Osborn 's Dark X-Men , posing as Professor Charles Xavier for P.R. purposes. Osborn has her injected with nanites and kept on
5047-510: The Legacy Virus. Dark Beast is also rumored to have a sample of the Legacy Virus. Listed below in alphabetical order are the characters infected by the Legacy Virus: (Revealed in House of X #2 that she was secretly a mutant, and that the infected Moira was actually a "Shi'Ar golem") The Ultimate Marvel universe version of the Legacy Virus is created by Nick Fury , in an attempt to replicate
5150-575: The Middle East and then into Afghanistan. It is hinted at that Mystique's recent betrayal is not the only reason Logan is out to kill her, as they have a common history of friendship, love, and ultimately, betrayal. After a heated fight, Wolverine wounds Mystique, but denies her the Coup de grâce . Mystique shows up again, posing as Bobby Drake's ex-girlfriend Opal Tanaka . She sets off a bomb inside of Bobby's Blackbird before shooting him and kicking him out of
5253-465: The Shadow King's human host, Jacob Reisz. She finally reconciles with Rogue. In time, she comes to terms with Destiny's death. She teams with Spiral and Wolverine in thwarting Mojo 's near-destruction of the universe. Mystique later briefly stays as a guest at Xavier's mansion . She begins going insane, and leaves the mansion under the care of Forge. Mystique resurfaces several months later, in
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#17328524769525356-608: The Skrulls to surrender. The Legacy Virus has returned once more as it turned out there were other samples that fell into the hands of Bastion . Samples have been injected into Beautiful Dreamer and Fever Pitch by the Leper Queen in order to cause their powers to go berserk and kill themselves and thousands of humans during an anti-mutant rally held by the Friends of Humanity . It was later revealed that Hellion and Surge were also injected with
5459-529: The X-Men are going to fight the High Evolutionary , who was responsible for depowering all mutants, to restore everyone's powers. The X-Men defeat the High Evolutionary and restore everyone's powers, allowing Mystique to escape jail. Mystique is sent back in time by the original X-Factor's sentient ship . Raven finds that she is destined to be part of a great time paradox, where she finds herself with
5562-446: The X-Men for help erasing their memories of Kurt. Mystique opted to maintain knowledge that she had a son somewhere out there, against Xavier's advice. He warned that unlike a fully removed memory, the mind would weave stories to fill the gaps of a perforated one, and the resulting false memories could be uglier than the truth. This turns out to be the reason Mystique herself believed a different sequence of events, believing Azazel to be
5665-418: The X-Men. Mystique uses Rogue's doubts about what happened between her and Gambit to sow further discord in Rogue's relationship with Gambit, but he still refuses. The X-Men vote and decide to have Mystique join them on a probationary status (though Rogue is one of the ones who vote against her joining). Nightcrawler asks her to leave for a while regardless of the vote, saying that he needs more time adjusting to
5768-452: The area. Only after Lady Mastermind drops her illusions do the X-Men realize that it is an all-out attack, and that both Lady Mastermind and Omega Sentinel (the latter being possessed by Malice ) have defected sides. During the Marauders' initial ambush, Mystique prevents Scalphunter from shooting Rogue. She then reveals herself as a traitor as well, shoots her adopted daughter, and orders
5871-515: The assassination of a scientist in East Berlin . Mystique completes the mission in place of Leni, and then she and Victor have to hide in a safe location for a while. They become lovers, but she soon fakes her death to leave him. The result of this short-lived affair is reportedly the birth of Graydon Creed . A number of stories report that soon after his birth, Mystique gives him up for adoption. Others depict Mystique making arrangements for him from
5974-596: The assumed name Raven Darkhölme , and previously as Sherlock Holmes , Mystique is the wife of Destiny / Irene Adler , the mother of the villain Graydon Creed , adoptive mother of the X-Men heroine Rogue , and the biological father of the X-Men hero Nightcrawler ; conceived with her wife Destiny while in one of her male forms. Mystique has been described as one of Marvel's most notable and powerful female antiheroes. In live-action, Mystique appears in seven of 20th Century Fox 's X-Men films . The character
6077-466: The authorities, who are out to execute her. One of Xavier's enemies, the Quiet Man, who is actually Prudence Leighton inhabiting the body of her assassin, contacts Mystique and offers to give her an interference transmitter which would keep her safe from the authorities if she kills Xavier. Creating a plan that would free her from both men, Mystique pretends to try killing Xavier while secretly working with
6180-527: The body of the mutant woman Infectia . Her powers allowed her to scan and visualize the genetic structure of a living being, then alter it according to her own whims. When Infectia was infected with the Legacy-2 Virus, her powers caused a replication error that removed the viroid's conditioning to infect individuals only if the X-gene was present. Legacy-3 was capable of infecting any hominid . The Legacy Virus
6283-711: The character first appeared in Ms. Marvel #16 (April 1978). A member of a subspecies of humanity known as mutants who are born with superhuman abilities, Mystique is a shapeshifter who can perfectly mimic the appearance and voice of any person. Her natural appearance includes blue skin, red hair, and yellow eyes. Typically portrayed as a foe of the X-Men , Mystique has been both a supervillain and an antiheroine , founding her own Brotherhood of Mutants and assassinating several important people involved in mutant affairs; she has been stated to be over 100 years old. Commonly living under
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#17328524769526386-526: The character "Mystique", and, with Cockrum's permission, set her in Ms. Marvel #16 (May 1978). The character's true appearance was revealed in Ms. Marvel #18 (June 1978) and first cover appearance in The Avengers Annual #10 (1981). In July 2006, Claremont, a former X-Men writer, has said that he intended Mystique and Destiny to be Nightcrawler 's biological parents (with Mystique having morphed into
6489-488: The coast of Bermuda : La Isla des Demonas", The Island of Demons . He is later revealed to be immortal and the father of an ancient race of mutants known as the Neyaphem , active since at least 2000 BC. Mystique appears to become pregnant, but her husband becomes suspicious and his own father suggests a blood test to verify whether the child is his. Mystique uses a dagger to murder him and then buries him after he discovered
6592-529: The comatose Rogue, Mystique shoves Sinister onto Rogue, killing him through fatal skin-to-skin contact. Then, in keeping with the words of the Destiny Diaries, she touches the baby's face to Rogue's. The baby's touch purges her of the Strain 88 virus and all the residual psyches she had absorbed over her life, including Hecatomb. Rogue is sickened by Mystique's manipulations, and leaves. Wolverine tracks Mystique to
6695-555: The couple's separations. Destiny/Irene's children are now adults with their own children, one of which is a mutant. Graydon has the mutant teen savagely beaten by members of the Friends of Humanity, as a warning towards his mother. Mystique is furious and wants to kill her son, but stops when she is given a message that Graydon's backers want her to kill him and turn her son into a martyr. Mystique then seeks to save her son from being betrayed by his backers, but fails. Graydon's death ushers in
6798-449: The discovery of retrozymes (a family of retrotransposon likely representing their ancestors) and their complete absence from organisms outside of the plants (especially their complete absence from prokaryotes including bacteria and archaea ). However, recent studies suggest that the diversity of viroids and others viroid-like elements is broader than previously thought and that it would not be limited to plants, encompassing even
6901-415: The doctor. Mystique then shoots Moira's foster daughter Wolfsbane with a prototype of Forge's neutralizer gun, depowering her. The X-Men confront Mystique and she is seriously wounded. She tells the X-Men that Destiny had predicted a dark future for mutant-kind, and that the future Destiny foretold kept on unfolding despite all that Mystique had done to prevent it. She believes that the only way to save them
7004-400: The father, her to be the mother, and that she had either abandoned Kurt to save herself or dropped him off a cliff to spite Azazel who was just interested in her for childbearing. Those beliefs apparently also drove her continued coldness towards Kurt despite being reunited for a significant amount of time, fully aware he was her lost son. It may have also had other effects on her psyche. This
7107-493: The federal government launches its own covert anti-mutant program, Project Wideawake . Believing that the times have become too dangerous for the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to continue, Mystique goes to Doctor Valerie Cooper , special assistant to the head of the National Security Council , and offers the Brotherhood's services to the government. In return for entering government service, Mystique and her team receive
7210-410: The first time after contracting the disease. The result was a major compromise of the replication and transcription process so disruptive that it eventually rendered the body incapable of creating healthy cells, ultimately resulting in the death of the victim. Prior to death, the viroid causes its host's powers to flare out of control. Legacy-1 attacked general transcription and replication of all cells,
7313-685: The girl, and Mystique grows to be very protective of her. Mystique, as Raven Darkhölme, rises rapidly through the United States Civil Service to the trusted position of Deputy Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the United States Department of Defense . This position gives her access to military secrets and advanced weaponry, both of which she uses for her own criminal and subversive purposes. In this position, she attempts
7416-441: The hands of Johny Kitano, Special Magistrate for Homo Superior crimes against humanity, and a mutant himself. At this time, Mystique claims that there is an imposter out to frame her, taking control over the Brotherhood and sending them on their recent missions (the assassination of Moira and the infiltration of X-Corps). As long as Mystique completes the missions without killing anybody, Xavier, working with Forge, keeps her safe from
7519-507: The host diversity of viroids and other viroid-like elements is broader than previously thought and that it would not be limited to plants, encompassing even the prokaryotes . The first discoveries of viroids in the 1970s triggered the historically third major extension of the biosphere —to include smaller lifelike entities—after the discoveries in 1675 by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (of the "subvisible" microorganisms) and in 1892–1898 by Dmitri Iosifovich Ivanovsky and Martinus Beijerinck (of
7622-622: The host. This is useful in the study of RNA kinetics in plants. There has long been uncertainty over how viroids induce symptoms in plants without encoding any protein products within their sequences. Evidence suggests that RNA silencing is involved in the process. First, changes to the viroid genome can dramatically alter its virulence . This reflects the fact that any siRNAs produced would have less complementary base pairing with target messenger RNA . Secondly, siRNAs corresponding to sequences from viroid genomes have been isolated from infected plants. Finally, transgenic expression of
7725-473: The house and going through the window, changing her form to shield her fall. Mystique goes to the Quiet Man, who is planning on having her killed. After a battle, Mystique kills the Quiet Man, saves her former field-handler Shortpack , and discovers the Quiet Man's interference transmitter was a fake. She tries to steal Forge's interference transmitter but is caught. After some angry words, he smashes it and tells her he never wants to see her again. The two share
7828-566: The idea of her being a member. Mystique agrees and leaves. After M-Day , she joins the X-Men and brings Augustus ( Pulse ) along with her. Both have been crucial in the downfall of Apocalypse . After the Hecatomb battle on Providence, Rogue's team returns to Rogue's childhood home in Caldecott County, Mississippi, which Mystique owns, for some downtime. Mystique alerts the X-Men, who come to treat Rogue's illness, that there are intruders in
7931-402: The mutant thief Fantomex , after alerting Forge to stop her at the last moment. Her plan is to have the Quiet Man see this and believe that she really has attempted to kill Xavier and is still working for him. The other X-Men believe that Mystique has tried killing Xavier and seek her out. Rogue tracks her down. Distraught with rage, she attacks her foster mother. Mystique escapes by blowing up
8034-454: The noninfectious hpRNA of potato spindle tuber viroid develops all the corresponding viroid-like symptoms. This indicates that when viroids replicate via a double stranded intermediate RNA , they are targeted by a dicer enzyme and cleaved into siRNAs that are then loaded onto the RNA-induced silencing complex . The viroid siRNAs contain sequences capable of complementary base pairing with
8137-447: The nucleus ( Pospiviroidae ) or chloroplasts ( Avsunviroidae ) of plant cells in three steps through an RNA-based mechanism. They require RNA polymerase II , a host cell enzyme normally associated with synthesis of messenger RNA from DNA, which instead catalyzes " rolling circle " synthesis of new RNA using the viroid as template. Unlike plant viruses which produce movement proteins , viroids are entirely passive, relying entirely on
8240-452: The organization, Mystique brings Banshee's organization down and slits his throat, leaving him in critical condition. Professor X is forced to make Mystique his secret agent, as his previous one, Prudence Leighton, has died and Mystique is the only one suitable to complete the missions. Xavier poses as Magneto to rescue Mystique from the Department of Homeland Security and from execution at
8343-458: The other members of the Brotherhood, Mystique concocts a plan involving Rogue absorbing the powers of Ms. Marvel and the Avengers . Though the plan is successful, the Avengers ultimately defeat the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, capturing all of them except Rogue and Mystique. Moreover, Rogue finds that she has absorbed Ms. Marvel's memories, personality, and powers permanently. In a further humiliation,
8446-414: The past as possible "living relics" of a hypothetical, pre-cellular RNA world . If so, viroids have assumed significance beyond plant virology for evolutionary theory, because their properties make them more plausible candidates than other RNAs to perform crucial steps in the evolution of life from inanimate matter (abiogenesis). Diener's hypothesis was mostly forgotten until 2014, when it was resurrected in
8549-526: The plane. Later, she follows Iceman to the hospital and injects him with a fatal dose of a toxin created by Mister Sinister . Hospital staff try to get to Iceman, but they are held back by Mystique while Iceman expels the toxin from his system. Afterward, Mystique attacks Iceman in a truck and sets the truck ablaze with Iceman in it. Iceman steps out of the fire unharmed and disarms and immobilizes Mystique, but she escapes after turning her body into her child form. Mystique impersonates Iceman and stands on top of
8652-472: The plant's own messenger RNAs, and induction of degradation or inhibition of translation causes the classic viroid symptoms. "Viroid-like elements" refer to pieces of covalently closed circular (ccc) RNA molecules that do not share the viroid's lifecycle. The category encompasses satellite RNAs (including small plant satRNAs " virusoids ", fungal " ambivirus ", and the much larger HDV -like Ribozyviria ) and "retroviroids". Most of them also carry some type of
8755-658: The possibility of the molecule having two 3' ends. Viroids thus are true circular RNAs. The single-strandedness and circularity of viroids was confirmed by electron microscopy, The complete nucleotide sequence of potato spindle tuber viroid was determined in 1978. PSTVd was the first pathogen of a eukaryotic organism for which the complete molecular structure has been established. Over thirty plant diseases have since been identified as viroid-, not virus-caused, as had been assumed. Four additional viroids or viroid-like RNA particles were discovered between 2009 and 2015. In 2014, New York Times science writer Carl Zimmer published
8858-402: The potato spindle tuber disease. The symptoms appeared on plants onto which pieces from affected plants had been budded—indicating that the disease was caused by a transmissible pathogenic agent. A fungus or bacterium could not be found consistently associated with symptom-bearing plants, however, and therefore, it was assumed the disease was caused by a virus. Despite numerous attempts over
8961-429: The press conference, Moira MacTaggert has an insight that the virus worked as a "designer gene". The virus raged on for some time in the mutant population, until Mystique , in an effort to make the world safe for mutants, modified the virus to affect only humans. When Moira found out about this strain of the virus, she finally grasped what the key to the cure was. Unfortunately, she was mortally wounded by Mystique during
9064-400: The remaining Marauders to kill the X-Men. Mystique remains with the Marauders during the hunt for the first new mutant baby, but is revealed to have murdered Mister Sinister in a plot involving the baby and Rogue's killing touch. She also appears to be working with Gambit, who, like her, has ulterior motives to want to betray Mister Sinister. When Sinister approaches Mystique as she is with
9167-460: The same effect. Colossus, who did not want any more people to suffer his sister's fate, snuck into McCoy's lab and injected the cure into himself and activated his mutant powers, transforming his body into organic steel. This "supercharged" the Legacy cure, simultaneously killing him and stopping the spread of the Legacy virus, instantaneously curing even those dying of the virus at that moment (Although it
9270-458: The senator's wife Mallory Brickman, using her husband's influence to set the FBI on Sabretooth. She prevents Rogue from giving up her mutant powers and continues her investigation of the U.S. Government over her son's death, leading to her aiding Toad and his most recent incarnation of the Brotherhood of Mutants on a mission to raid a government base. The mission fails thanks to Machine Man , who fights
9373-404: The sequence of mutant genes that gave a mutant their superpowers. If it did not find an activated X-factor in the target, the viroid would die off, leaving the person completely unaffected. If, however, it did detect the X-factor, it would begin inserting introns into the transcription codings of the victim's mutant RNA , the process commonly being triggered after the patient used their powers for
9476-472: The theft of the Centurion weaponry from S.H.I.E.L.D. As Destiny had predicted that Ms. Marvel was a danger to Rogue, she spied on Carol Danvers and Ms. Marvel for some time prior to beating her lover Michael Barnett to death, and sought to kill Ms. Marvel. To help her in her criminal activities, Mystique organizes her own incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants , consisting of herself, Avalanche ,
9579-484: The time. The instant cure gave Magneto a vast army overnight and allowed him to begin carrying out his plans for world conquest in the Eve of Destruction crossover. In X-Factor vol. 3 #10, it was revealed that Singularity Investigations was creating a virus designed to kill mutants. While Jamie Madrox referred to this as the Legacy Virus, it is unclear whether Singularity is actually recreating Stryfe's virus, creating what
9682-484: The truth. It is revealed that she was using her mutant abilities to simulate a pregnancy in sympathy with Destiny, who was actually the one pregnant. Mystique had in fact, as a deeper function of her powers, replicated the genetics of Azazel and Christian, as well as possibly other men, in order to become functionally male and impregnate Destiny (after the pair discussed wanting to start a family). Destiny gives birth to their baby with black hair, yellow eyes, blue skin, and
9785-592: The viroid's RNA as a template. Viroids are often ribozymes , having catalytic properties that allow self-cleavage and ligation of unit-size genomes from larger replication intermediates. Diener initially hypothesized in 1989 that viroids may represent "living relics" from the widely assumed, ancient, and non-cellular RNA world , and others have followed this conjecture. Following the discovery of retrozymes , it has been proposed that viroids and other viroid-like elements may derive from this newly found class of retrotransposon . The human pathogen hepatitis D virus
9888-464: The world. When Colossus ' sister Illyana fell ill and died of the Legacy Virus in The Uncanny X-Men #303 (Aug. 1993), he left the X-Men and joined Magneto 's Acolytes. Eventually, reporter Trish Tilby, Beast's former lover, reported to the general public the existence of the Legacy Virus. Later, Xavier and Beast call a press conference to assuage fears in the general populace. While watching
9991-675: The years to isolate and purify the assumed virus, using increasingly sophisticated methods, these were unsuccessful when applied to extracts from potato spindle tuber disease-afflicted plants. In 1971, Theodor O. Diener showed that the agent was not a virus, but a totally unexpected novel type of pathogen, 1/80th the size of typical viruses, for which he proposed the term "viroid". Parallel to agriculture-directed studies, more basic scientific research elucidated many of viroids' physical, chemical, and macromolecular properties. Viroids were shown to consist of short stretches (a few hundred nucleotides) of single-stranded RNA and, unlike viruses, did not have
10094-481: Was aided by Nightcrawler's 'Hopesword', which undid Xavier's modifications. Mystique becomes the adoptive mother of the fourteen-year-old girl Rogue . Rogue had run away from her home in rural Caldecott County, Mississippi . The girl was living alone in a wooded area, brandishing a shotgun and trusting no one, when Mystique found her. Destiny foresees that Rogue will be important to them and Mystique seeks her out, gains her trust, and takes her in. She and Destiny raise
10197-401: Was based on a virus created by Apocalypse in the distant future, which was intended to kill the remaining non-mutants. At the time that this alternate version of Apocalypse was killed, the virus had not been perfected, and much like Legacy-3, it targeted all humans indiscriminately. As a result, this virus was never deployed, until Stryfe acquired it and altered it for his own purposes. During
10300-414: Was in part a manipulation by Destiny to produce a child Azazel would assume was his own. Destiny foresaw that Kurt would sabotage Azazel's attempt for world domination, which involved gathering several of his children. This would have been successful and catastrophic otherwise. The pain of loss and the stress to their relationship prompted them to seek Professor Charles Xavier some time before his formation of
10403-447: Was later revealed Colossus had been resurrected by alien technology and was being used as a test subject for an experimental formula that would reverse mutations before he was rescued by the X-Men). Unfortunately, this rapid cure had unforeseen geopolitical effects. Thousands of Legacy-infected mutants had been quarantined on the island nation of Genosha , which was controlled by Magneto at
10506-608: Was played by Rebecca Romijn in X-Men (2000), X2: X-Men United (2003), and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), while Jennifer Lawrence played a younger version in X-Men: First Class (2011), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), and X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019). Romijn also cameod as Mystique in First Class . Mystique was created by David Cockrum . Chris Claremont saw Cockrum's design, dubbed
10609-424: Was that a victim would eventually lose control of his superhuman powers. In addition to developing at a far slower rate than Legacy-1, victims of Legacy-2 developed skin lesions, fever, cough and overall weakness (symptoms displayed by the telepathic X-Man Revanche ). The slow nature of Legacy-2 is why St. John "Pyro" Allerdyce survived for years following his initial infection. Legacy-3 was accidentally created in
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