Stryfe

Stryfe is a villain from Marvel comics associated with the X-Men and hails from the Askani time-line, he is an evil clone of the hero known as Cable and is as much a ruthless terrorist as Cable is a determined freedom fighter.

History
Stryfe is the clone of Nathan Christopher Summers, alias Cable, the son of Cyclops of the X-Men.

Nearly two millennia in an alternate future, the aged mutant Mother Askani, alias Rachel Summers, led the Askani cult which opposed the rule of Earth by the long-lived mutant tyrant Apocalypse. In need of a powerful warrior who would oppose Apocalypse, Mother Askani sent a female member of the cult back to the X-Men's own time period. The Apocalypse of that time infected the infant Nathan Christopher Summers with a techno-organic virus that was rapidly spreading through his body and, if not stopped, would kill him. The Askani cult member persuaded Cyclops to let her take the infant to the far future, where advanced medical science could save his life.

Once the infant Nathan had arrived in the Askani's time, Mother Askani had him cloned, so that if Nathan himself died, the cult could raise his clone to be their savior. The clone's growth was greatly accelerated until he was the same age as Nathan himself. The Askani succeeded in halting the spread of the techno-organic virus in Nathan's body, thereby saving his life.

However, Apocalypse and his forces then invaded the Askani's hiding place. Apocalypse found the infant clone and decided to raise him himself.

The Askani took the original Nathan to safety, and he was raised to early adolescence by Cyclops and his wife Jean Grey, posing as Slym and Redd, whom Mother Askani transported to the Askani's time period.

Apocalypse named the clone Stryfe and encouraged the boy's arrogance and cruelty as he grew into adolescence. Stryfe was watched over by Apocalypse's aide Ch'vayre, who regarded the boy's malevolence with mixed feelings. Neither Apocalypse nor Stryfe was aware that Stryfe was actually a clone.

At this point in Apocalypse's millennia-long existence, he had to transfer his consciousness and life forces from one body to another to maintain his life. When his current body grew too old and feeble, Apocalypse intended to take over the powerful young body of Stryfe.

Apocalypse's plans were thwarted, however, when he was killed by the adolescent Nathan Summers, who became known as Nathan Dayspring Askani'son, and later as Cable. Stryfe went into hiding with Ch'vayre and eventually became the military leader of the new dictatorship that arose in Apocalypse's place, the New Canaanites.

Cable, meanwhile, became the foremost military leader of the New Canaanites' opposition, the Clan Chosen. During the war between these opposing forces, Cable and Stryfe clashed repeatedly, becoming bitter enemies, even though neither was aware of the true relationship between them.

Eventually Cable went back in time to the Twentieth Century, hoping to change the course of history by stopping Apocalypse back then. Stryfe fled to the Twentieth Century himself and organized the terrorist group called the Mutant Liberation Front.

Inevitably, Cable and Stryfe came into conflict yet again, first when Cable headed the mercenary team called the Six Pack, and later after Cable had taken over the New Mutants, whom he reorganized into X-Force.

At one point Stryfe ordered the massacre of the Native Americans of the Camp Verde Reservation, the original home of X-Force member Warpath, in order to cover up secret, illegal genetic experimentation being conducted in its vicinity.

Posing as Cable himself, Stryfe publicly made an assassination attempt on Professor Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men, and nearly succeeded in killing him. Stryfe defeated Apocalypse and seized control of his team of superhuman warriors, the Dark Riders. Believing himself to be the real Nathan Summers, Stryfe captured Cyclops and Jean Grey, blaming them for abandoning him as an infant.

As a means of spreading further destruction, Stryfe also introduced the Legacy Virus, a disease genetically engineered to be lethal to mutants, into present day Earth. The Legacy Virus has since infected a large number of mutants and killed many of them.

Ultimately, Cable and Stryfe had their climactic battle on Earth's moon. They fell through a time vortex and were seemingly destroyed by a self-destruct device in Cable's battlesuit. In fact, however, Cable survived while Stryfe's body was annihilated.

But Stryfe's consciousness projected itself into Cable's own mind and took control after Cable returned to Earth. Eventually, however, Cable's mind reasserted control, and Stryfe's consciousness left his body.

Recently, Warpath was injected with drugs by the criminal scientist Edwin Martynec that stopped his heart. Warpath's spirit was transported by Stryfe's spirit to the netherworld ruled by the demon Blackheart. Blackheart had promised to let Stryfe return to the world of the living in Warpath's body if Stryfe could defeat Warpath's spirit. But instead Warpath's spirit defeated Stryfe and returned to his body, thereby coming back to life. Stryfe, on the other hand, remains a prisoner in Blackheart's netherworld.

Centuries later, Stryfe and Bishop attacked Apocalypse and assumed they killed him. Apocalypse survived and found Archangel, and begged him to kill him. He declined and his techno-organic wings rejuvenated Apocalypse. Stryfe was dragged away by Apocalypse and was about to fulfill his destiny: to become the next vessel for Apocalypse's soul.

Powers and Abilities
Stryfe was a clone of the mutant Cable and, as a result, possessed all of Cable's natural mutant abilities. He also possessed other abilities through genetic manipulation similar to those that Cable achieved through cybernetic augmentation. Just like Cable, Stryfe's primary mutant powers included vast telepathic and telekinetic capabilities. Stryfe's telepathy enabled him to read the minds of others, enter their minds and control their thoughts and actions, cause physical paralysis, stun individuals into unconsciousness with "mental bolts. Stryfe could also erect extremely powerful psionic shields within his own mind for the purpose of shielding his thoughts from others and to protect it from telepathic assault.

These shields were too powerful for most telepaths to overcome. Stryfe was also a powerful telekenetic capable of moving and manipulating objects, even extremely large and heavy ones, through concentration. He was also capable of generating telekinetic fields around individuals to keep them from moving. While he was alive, Stryfe's psionic powers were vastly superior to those of Cable's due to the fact that the vast majority of Cable's psionic powers were, unconsciously, being devoted to keep the Techno-Organic virus that had ravaged the left half of his body from doing the same to the right side. Due to Apocalypse's methods, many of Stryfe's physical attributes were enhanced to superhuman levels.

Through genetic augmentation at Apocalypse's hands, Stryfe gained superhuman strength that was sufficient to lift about 10 tons. However, Stryfe could temporarily augment his strength to higher, unknown levels with the use of his telekinetic powers. Stryfe was able to run and move at speeds that were superior to those of the finest human athlete. Stryfe's enhanced musculature produced less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of a normal human. He could physically exert himself at peak capacity for several hours before the build up of fatigue toxins in his blood began to impair him.

Stryfe's body was also rendered more resistant to certain types of injury than the body of a normal human. For instance, Stryfe's bodily tissues could withstand great impact forces, such as being struck by a being with superhuman strength, that would either severely injure or kill a normal human with little to no injury to show for it. However, Stryfe could use his psionic powers to generate a telekinetic force field around his body that further protected him from all forms of energy. The field could repel high caliber bullets and powerful energy blasts without Stryfe being injured. Stryfe's agility, balance, and bodily coordination were enhanced to levels that were beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete.

Stryfe's reflexes were also similarly enhanced and were superior to those of the finest human athlete. Stryfe possessed a genius level intellect with access to scientific technologies and techniques far beyond that of contemporary science. He was especially knowledgable of biology, genetics, and genetic mutation, all of which helped him to create the Legacy Virus. Stryfe was also a formidable combatant, though his experience and skill in combat situations paled in comparison with Cable's.

Armor
Stryfe almost always wore a suit of armor constructed of an unnamed light, but highly durable, alloy from his time that helped render him even more resistant to physical forms of injury.