GENEGINEER

Real Name: Dr. David Moreau

Identity/Class: Human technology user

Occupation: Creator of Mutates for the Genoshan government

Affiliations: Genoshan Magistrates and President, Magistrate Anderson, the Press Gang, Sugar Man, (briefly) X-Men

Enemies: Genoshan mutates, the Genoshan President, Cameron Hodge, Phillip Moreau, New Mutants, Madelyne Pryor, Jennifer Ransome, X-Factor, X-Men

Known Relatives: Phillip Moreau (son), Thomas Moreau (Zealot, son)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: The Citadel, Hammer Bay, Genosha

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men I#236 (October, 1988)

Powers/Abilities: The Genegineer had no powers, but used technology supplied to him by the Sugar Man to turn mutants into near-mindless slaves for the country of Genosha

History: (Uncanny X-Men I#236)- The Genegineer met with his son Phillip as a team of Magistrates arrested the family of Jennifer Ransome. Moreau had discovered that Phillip had attempted to conceal Jennifer's status as a mutant, and was now meeting out retribution against her family.

(Uncanny X-Men I#237)- The Genegineer then oversaw Jennifer's transformation into a mutate, and altered her powers to better serve the state. He also had a team working on analyzing another captive, Madelyne Pryor, but when he went to check on them, he found they were all dead.

(Uncanny X-Men I#238)- In the aftermath, the Genegineer held a meeting in which the Magistrates examined the recorded psychic images of the probe which had been performed upon Pryor. In this recording, the leader of the scientific team was represented by the Genegineer himself, whom Pryor knew to be the one directing the others. Pryor dressed the pseudo-Genegineer as Mr. Sinister, before killing him psychically. The Genegineer met with Pryor himself to determine what she was, but received no answers.

By this time, Phillip had fallen in with Wolverine and Rogue, two of the X-Men who had escaped after having their powers removed. Phillip had seen the prison camps in Genosha, and argued with his father over the conditions, but the Genegineer refused to accept mutants as people, believing them to be living resources instead. Magistrate Anderson threatened to have Phillip killed in order to protect Genosha's secrets, but they were interrupted by the arrival of Rogue and Wolverine's team-mates. The Genegineer fled from there to the Creche, where infant mutants were brought into the world. There, he found Pryor, and nearly killed her, but was stopped by Phillip.

Afterward, Phillip and Jennifer left Genosha with the X-Men, to make their case against Genosha from overseas where they would be protected. Moreau was unable to change his son's mind.

(New Mutants I#95)- While the Genegineer was in the middle of turning a young boy into a mutate, Cameron Hodge entered the room with an incapacitated Warlock and demanded that Genegineer help him in stealing Warlock's powers. (The Genoshans had earlier captured several members of the New Mutants as well as Storm.) Genegineer objected, but was presumably won over by Hodge, since Hodge later did attempt the process in which he tried to steal Warlock's powers.

(X-Factor I#60)- The Genegineer barged into the Genoshan President's office while she was with Cameron Hodge and got into an argument about the way they were handling their mutant captives. The President pulled him out of the room and explained to him that even though Hodge was insane, they needed him for the time being.

(Uncanny X-Men I#271)- The Genegineer was in a televised debate hosted by Manoli Wetherell about the captive mutants held by Genosha against Moira MacTaggert. Afterward, he went to his office and brooded over his son and how much it hurt to do his duty. Storm, who had escaped from the cell the Genoshans were holding her in, then snuck up on the Genegineer and held a knife to his throat, saying that no matter what happened to her, at least there would be no more mutate slaves produced. But before Storm could do anything, Hodge entered and incapacitated her. Genegineer then turned her into a mutate slave, but while Hodge was preoccupied with Psylocke and Wolverine, Genegineer programmed Storm, as a mutate, to return to the X-Men the powers that had been stolen from them by the mutant Wipeout.

(New Mutants I#96)- The Genegineer turned Rahne Sinclair AKA Wolfsbane, into a mutate slave. However, at Cameron Hodge's command, he programmed her so that she would remember her past life, but be unable to go against the mutate programming, thereby making her enslavement all the more painful.

(X-Factor I#61)- The Genegineer was in the Genoshan President's office, arguing with Cameron Hodge and the President over their ambitions for Genosha and the rest of the world. Genegineer wanted to avoid war and be peaceful, while Hodge wanted to wipe mutant kind off the Earth.

(Uncanny X-Men I#272)- The Genegineer was spied upon by Rictor, Boom Boom, and Jubilee (all on the run from Genoshan magistrates), as he initiated his plan against Cameron Hodge. He tunneled underground into Cameron Hodge's lab with the help of a mutate slave with energy powers. Meanwhile, Magistrate Anderson, worked with him. While he went to Hodge's lab, her and other magistrates were to capture the Genoshan President.

(New Mutants I#97)- The Genegineer was confronted by Boom Boom, Rictor, and Jubilee when they were found by the rescue party consisting of members of X-factor, the New Mutants, and the X-Men. Meanwhile, the Genegineer's plan with Storm had come to fruition and she had returned the X-teams' powers. Together, the Genegineer and several mutants began destroying Cameron Hodge's lab, significantly weakening his cyborg body by destroying its power sources. This was Genegineer's purpose for tunneling into the lab. However, Hodge showed up in the middle of the destruction, and quickly incapacitated several mutants. The Genegineer then unleashed a very high power energy weapon on the already weakened Hodge. Hodge picked up the Genegineer in one of his mechanical tentacles and broke his neck, killing him, but in his death, the Genegineer had weakened Hodge significantly. 

Comments: Created by Chris Claremont and Marc Silvestri.

The process in which he created mutates consisted of first calling in every Genoshan citizen to be tested for a mutant gene on their 13th birthday. If tested positive, first the subject's mind would be wiped clean of all their memories. Then, it would be programmed  like a robot, or a zombie to be blindly obedient and do whatever it was told. The mutate could not really think for itself. It was then put into a suit that was a completely sealed, self-sustaining environment. Once bonded, the suit was like a second skin. It was the last suit they ever wear. They were given numbers and their names were taken away. From the day they become mutates, they are only known by numbers. Assigning a living thing a number and putting it to work because of something that they had no control over sounds very familiar to something that happened in the 1940's.

Every time I read this story, I always ask myself: So was this guy a hero or a villain? I think he's not quite either, and that he is a Genoshan patriot who wanted what was best for his country, but wanted noble ends through evil means. I think that there was a line used to describe Napoleon that can just as well describe the Genegineer. "He was as great as a man can be without virtue."

by Stunner and Prime Eternal

CLARIFICATIONS: The Genegineer should not be confused with:


First Posted: 08/25/2003
Last updated: 04/20/2014

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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