SPORE
SPORE
Real Name: None
Identity/Class: Deviant mutate (Pre-Cataclysmic and modern eras)
Occupation: Warrior
Group Membership: Deviant mutates
Affiliations: Former pawn of the
Deviants;
power sought by Felix Guillermo Carridad and Geist;
mutated Hammer Cody and Roughouse
Enemies: La Bandera, Palo Caridad, Celestials, Sister Salvation, Wolverine
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: El Jardin del Rey, Tierra Verde
First Appearance: Wolverine II#17 (BTS; November, 1989), Wolverine II#21 (February, 1990)
Powers:
Spore's body is composed of unorganized amorphous material making
him immune to most forms of physical destruction. It can rapidly
reorganize itself after being injured or even completely
dispersed. It can engulf and consume the forms of people and even
superhumans, enabling it to grow in size and power.
History: (Wolverine II#21 (fb) ) - Spore was created by the Deviants, many millennia past, from a human template via genetic engineering techniques. It was created to be the ultimate weapon against the Deviants' enemies, the Eternals. It proved successful against the Eternals, and even gained immortality by consuming many of them. Spore continued to grow in power and hunger, eventually beginning to consume its Deviant creators as well. It was destroyed @ 18, 000 BC by the Celestials of the Second Host. The Celestials judged Spore as too dangerous to continue, and so the rained their vast powers onto it, scorching it back to the visceral slime from which it grew. Its destruction took place on the mountain el Jardin del Rey (translated as the Garden of the King, or the King's Garden), on the Island of Tierra Verde.
(Wolverine II#19 (fb) ) - The energies released in this battle were observed by tribes and people on Earth and gave rise to stories of falling stars, and of an ancient god who had fought to his death on the mountainside.
(Wolverine II#21 (fb) ) - In the modern era, a cocaine crop was harvested from el Jardin del Rey, which incorporated the particles of Spore, which had been incorporated in the soil. The special nature of this harvest was soon discovered when its users began to develop superhuman strength and durability after partaking of it.
(Wolverine II#17 (fb) ) - Spore's life force existed in all of its minute forms, and sought release in those who consumed it. A criminal and drug addict named Hammer Cody, developed superhuman strength and durability, in addition to a savage frenzy after partaking of the cocaine tainted with Spore. However, Cody's body, like most others, proved unable to survive the shock of an alien presence growing inside of it, and died suddenly in mid-rampage while battling Daredevil and the New York Police Department.
(Wolverine II#18 (fb) - BTS) - The president of Tierra Verde, President Felix Caridad, sought a superhuman government warrior along the likes of Nuke, the short-lived agent of the United States government. Caridad commissioned his agent, Geist, to create such a warrior for him.
(Wolverine II#17-20 - BTS, 21-23) - The involved cocaine
was identified, and via the actions of certain US government
agencies, the entire shipment was shipped to Madripoor where it
was "impounded" by Prince Baran. Geist purchased the
enforcer Roughouse from his employer,
President Nguyen Ngoc Coy, following one of Roughouse's many
defeats by Wolverine. Geist then purchased the confiscated
cocaine from Baran. Geist injected
Roughouse with this cocaine, as a test of its power, and of
Roughouse's as well.
Wolverine had followed the cocaine shipment to the ship that
Geist was using and attempted to free Roughouse. Roughouse
awakened and went on a rampage, and Geist allowed Roughouse and
Wolverine to battle each other to exhaustion and them subdued
them both him tranquilizer darts. Wolverine was disposed of (yeah,
right!) and Roughouse was brought to Tierra Verde and
presented to Caridad. The President sought the aid of his
estranged wife, Sister Salvation, to calm Roughouse, who had been
driven to the brink of madness by the cocaine, which they
continued to pump into him.
Caridad coerced Sister Salvation to help him, despite her
objections to his motives, by offering to allow her to see their
son, Palo. Having been long forbidden to see Palo by Caridad,
Sister Salvation agreed. Her healing powers brought relief to the
pain-maddened Roughouse. However, Wolverine, alongside the local
heroine la Bandera, then arrived and
freed Roughouse and Sister Salvation. As they escaped, Geist shot
Wolverine full of several doses of the tainted cocaine.
As Wolverine, Roughouse, and Sister Salvation made their way
through the jungles of Tierra Verde, Spore tried to assert
itselfagainst Wolverine, explaining its origins to him in the
process. Sister Salvation's abilities bolstered Wolverine's
healing factor and enabled him to expel the components of Spore.
However, despite helping Wolverine and Roughouse, Sister
Salvation had been marking their trail, enabling Caridad and his
men to track them, so she could see her son again. Cardidad and
his soldiers recaptured all three of them.
Caridad brought Sister Salvation to their son, Palo, but revealed
his plan to have Palo become the warrior he had sought, and to
use Salvation's powers to help control the change. Wolverine and
Roughouse broke free at the same time that la Bandera led a group
of rebels into Caridad's compound. They interrupted the
empowerment of Palo, resulting in only one of the chemical darts
hitting Palo, and the rest bouncing off Wolverine's claws into
Caridad himself. Sister Salvation purged the drug from Palo.
Geist fled as the rebels began to overrun the compound, and
Caridad, maddened by the cocaine, unloaded the rest of the
supply into himself in an effort to become the hero he had sought
in others. This massive collection of the cocaine allowed Spore
to reform itself within Caridad and to consume his body.
Spore engulfed Wolverine and the rebels in his vicinity, rapidly
growing in strength and power. Wolverine tore his way out of
Spore, but despite the efforts of he and his allies, Spore
continued to consume the people of the army and the rebels around
him, and grew to immense size in a short time period. Wolverine
succeeded in hurting Spore badly enough to cause it to collapse,
but is was just a matter of time before it reformed anew.
However, Sister Salvation used her healing powers against Spore.
Her touched seared Spore like the fire the Celestials had rained
upon it, and it was consumed into nothingness.
Comments: Created by John Byrne.
Thanks to Henrique
Ferreira for the translation
assist.
Thanks to Prime
Eternal for correcting the
spelling on Sporr, the Thing that Could not Die!
Take a look at Sluj, another Byrne creation, and see if you see any similarities.
Clarifications: Spore has no known connection to:
President Felix Guillermo Caridad was the ruler ofTierra Verde, the father of Palo, and
the former husband of Sister Salvation. Caridad achieved his
political power through military success, anti-communist
politics, and a personal fortune from the traffic of cocaine.
Caridad had made certain alliances within the United States
government, who assisted him in defeating a rebel force within
Tierra Verde via the temporary loaning of Nuke. Caridad was
impressed by Nuke's efficacy, and sought such a warrior for his
own use. He commissioned Geist to develop such a warrior for him,
which resulted in his obtaining the cocaine of el Jardin del
Rey, and Roughouse as her first test subject.
Caridad coerced his estrange wife to use her healing powers to
help palliate the effects of the cocaine by destroying her
mission village, and promising to allow her to see her long-lost
son, Palo. Caridad convinced Palo to allow himself to be
subjected to the cocaine in the hopes of becoming Tierra Verde's
new hero. Wolverine interfered in the experiment, resulting in
Caridad himself being exposed to the largest amount of the
cocaine. Caridad, maddened by the cocaine, unloaded the rest of
the supply into himself in an effort to become the hero he had
sought in others. This massive collection of the cocaine allowed
Spore to reform itself within Caridad and to consume his body,
killing him.
--Wolverine II#18 (18(fb), 19-22
Palo Caridad is the son of Sister Salvation
and President Caridad. He was kept separated from his mother for
five years, after she left President Caridad and began her
missionary work. He became a loyal soldier in his father's army,
always seeking to prove his abilities to his father, and always
disappointing him. Even after being reunited with his mother, he
was still willing to risk his life for his father in an effort to
become the national hero for Tierra Verde. Wolverine deflected
the drugged darts Geist used in order to inject him with the
cocaine, and Sister Salvation controlled the drug from the one
dart that struck him. However, the effects were not short-lived,
and extended treatment would be necessary, apparently without the
benefit of her powers.
--Wolverine II#22 (23
Hammer Cody was once a promising heavyweight bozer, but was
ultimately reduced to fighting for his next fix. In Hell's
Kitchen, New York City, in one of those tenement-turned illicit
fortresses called a crackhouse, Hammer was one of the first
people to try the cocaine harvested from el Jardin del Rey. He
quickly went on a maddened rampage that resulted in the deaths of
all of the dealers, at the cost of multiple gunshots and stab
wounds to himself...to no apparent effect. After all of the
dealers were dead, he took his rampage out on the streets, which
drew the attention of Daredevil. It took all of Daredevils'
fighting skill to drop the crazed boxer, but it was to no avail
as Hammer Cody recovered almost immediately and smashed Daredevil
unconscious from behind. Cody then rushed the arriving police,
but his body could no longer handle the alien presence within him
and he collapsed, dead. News of Cody's phenomenal rampage drew
the attention of numerous parties, and generated interest in the
involved cocaine
--Wolverine II#17 (17(fb)
Sister Salvation, is the mother of Palo, and
the former husband of Caridad (her last name, if not Caridad, is
unknown, as is her first). Her origins are unknown: Wolverine
postulated (he's a postulator, you know) that she might
have been a hereditary product of the Celestials, left behind to
destroy Spore should he return. Sister Salvation mentioned the
possibility that she was simply a mutant, like Wolverine, but
also commented that he lacked her faith and wouldn't believe the
most likely explanation.
She had married Caridad and given him a son Palo many years ago.
At least five years prior to her adventure against Spore, she
could no longer tolerate his "evil" and left him to
join a convent. Her healing powers (when they surfaced is
unknown) earned her the nickname Sister Salvation. She spent a
lot of time working in a jungle mission, until her estranged
husband returned for her. Seeking her aid in using the cocaine
of el Jardin del Rey to create a superhuman agent for himself, he
blew up her mission, killing everyone in it to sever her ties to
outsiders. He promised that if he helped her, he would allow her
to see her long lost son, Palo.
Whatever Caridad's motives, Sister Salvation could not let others
suffer, and so she used her powers to ease the suffering of
Caridad's test subject Roughouse, and later Wolverine. Wolverine
and his allies broke her out of Caridad's compound, but wishing
to be reunited with her son, she left a trail that caused them to
be recatpured. When both Palo and Caridad himself were exposed to
the cocaine, Sister Salvation directed her powers towards her
son, allowing Caridad to feel the full force of Spore's
transformation. When Spore was released, she helped Palo get to
safety, but she returned to face Spore, realizing that her powers
might be the only thing that could stop him. Her energies did
indeed consume and destroy Spore, but so much power was released
in the process that her hands were severely burned. Sister
Salvation was uncertain whether her powers remained after this,
believing she may have used them for their ultimate purpose. Even
though she may have lost her powers, she decided to stay and help
Palo and the others, and rebuild her mission. Roughouse decided
to stay and protect her.
Sister Salvation possessed healing powers enabling her to ease pain, cure
disease, and heal wounds with a touch.
(Uncanny X-Men IV#2 (fb) - BTS) - The Dark Riders hunted down mutant healer Sister Salvation and killed her.
--Wolverine II#18 (19-23, [Uncanny X-Men IV#2 (fb)]
Appearances:
Wolverine II#17 (November, 1989) - Archie Goodwin (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Wolverine II#18-19 (December, 1989) - Archie Goodwin (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Wolverine II#20-22 (January-March, 1990) - Archie Goodwin (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Wolverine II#23 (April, 1990) - Archie Goodwin (writer), John Byrne (artist), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men IV#2 (March, 2016) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Greg Land (pencils), Jay Leisten (inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
First Posted: 11/23/2001
Last updated: 12/19/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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