SPAT
Real Name: Unrevealed (Spat seems unlikely, but it
is possible)
Identity/Class: Unrevealed; presumably human or
some variant thereof (she has some
superhuman powers, see comments)
Occupation: Bounty Hunter
Group Membership: Long-standing partnership with
Grovel
Affiliations: Grovel,
Landscape;
formerly Beast (Hank McCoy),
Erik the Red (Magneto/Max Eisenhart; neither she nor Grovel were aware
of his true identity), Gambit (Remy LeBeau),
Joseph (Magneto clone), Trish Tilby
Enemies: Gambit, Nanny,
Rogue;
to a lesser degree, Archangel (Warren
Worthington), Psylocke (Betsy Braddock), Maggott
(Japeth)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None known
Base of Operations: Unrevealed
First Appearance: (Behind-the-scenes) Uncanny
X-Men I#346 (August, 1997);
(pictured and identified) Uncanny
X-Men I#347 (September, 1997)
Powers/Abilities: Spat wields a spear she keeps
chained to her wrist, and she can apparently channel energy through the
spear, sufficient to knock out Rogue (who may or may not have had her
superhuman powers blocked at the time). 
The spear can also obviously be used as
a direct weapon.
Spat also carries a dagger, and she
sometimes wields an energy rifle.
For a time, she aged in reverse,
becoming physically younger and smaller over time.
Height: Unrevealed (she looked like she might be
4'2 or shorter at her age in UXM347-350; I don't have any images
available of her adult height, but as far as I recall, she was perhaps
5'6" or taller)
Weight: Unrevealed (at her observed height, around 65 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
History:
(Uncanny X-Men I#347 (fb) - BTS) - Spat and Grovel previously
worked with Remy LeBeau, and they and other associates considered him a
"bum with honor"; any of them would have laid down their hides for him.
(Gambit: The Hunt for the Tomorrow Stone (fb) - BTS / Uncanny
X-Men I#347 (fb) - BTS) - Hired by unspecified parties,
Remy, Grovel, and Spat sought Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth in
Madagascar.
In the process, Spat took
a
blast of a Chronometric
Liquid Compound (in/from a Shi'ar ship) meant for Remy. As a
result, Spat began to grow progressively younger, progressively
decreasing in size and physical maturity.
(Uncanny X-Men I#347 (fb) - BTS) - Spat initially
was OK with this effect.
(Uncanny X-Men I#347 (fb) - BTS) - Spat resented
Remy's working for Mister Sinister, which -- regardless of Gambit's lack
of appreciation of what the consequences would be -- contributed to
massive slaughtering in the Morlock Tunnels known as the "Mutant
Massacre."
(Uncanny X-Men I#350 (fb) - BTS) - As "Erik the
Red," Magneto hired Spat and Grovel and Landscape, and they in turn
employed the freelancer Landscape -- to capture Gambit and bring him in
for a trial.
(Uncanny X-Men I#348 (fb) - BTS) - Grovel advised
Spat against getting involved in this matter.
(Uncanny X-Men I#348 (fb) - BTS) - Spat (and
presumably Grovel) knew that the purpose of this trial was to expose
Gambit's role in organizing the Marauders and then leading them into the
Morlock Tunnels (which he did to repay a debt to Mr. Sinister).
(Uncanny X-Men I#347 (fb) - BTS) - A group of X-Men
(Beast, Gambit, Joseph, Rogue) and their ally Trish Tilby arrived (due to
a damaged stargate following a space adventure involving the Phalanx) on
Earth near Magneto's Antarctic citadel on the Filchner Ice Shelf in the
Weddell Sea, and they were separated: Rogue ended up with Joseph, Beast
with Trish Tilby, and Gambit was left alone.
Gambit and his associates' arrival in this location
was orchestrated, presumably by Magneto.
Under direction from Spat and Grovel, Landscape used
his powers to make the cavern containing the X-Men appear to be an an
alien world.
(Uncanny X-Men I#346 - BTS) - As Gambit wondered at
being in this seemingly alien world, Grovel approached him from behind (see comments).
(Uncanny X-Men I#347 - BTS) - Seeing
Grovel made Gambit realize he was actually back on Earth.
(Uncanny
X-Men I#347) - When Gambit expressed his desire to find his friends,
Grovel denied this, noting that Gambit was a consignment , at which point
Spat joined the confrontation. She confirmed with him that she still held
a grudge against him for what had happened in Madagascar, telling him to
give her any excuse to bring her employer just his head.
Spat additionally assured Gambit that his arriving
there -- and her and Grovel's presence -- was
no coincidence, and she mocked his concern for his teammates and having
learned to care for someone other than himself as too little, too late.
(Uncanny X-Men I#347 (fb) - BTS) - Spat
bound Gambit's hands behind his back with rope.
(Uncanny X-Men I#347 - BTS) - After Rogue
crashed into a wall, Joseph used his electromagnetic powers to disrupt the
illusion, which also incapacitated Landscape, causing his illusory
environment to fade.
(Uncanny X-Men I#347) - Gambit
recognized the environmental change to have been the work of Landscape,
and he told Spat and Grovel that they used to be above using a low-caliber
freelancer like him. As Gambit tried to encourage cooperation, Spat
angrily threw a knife that narrowly missed his manly parts and told him
not to try to pull her in with his dark red eyes or to talk about
friendship: "You lost the right to talk
about those things when you went to work for 'him!'"
Gambit quietly replied that people make mistakes, but
she ran off as she countered, "But not
everybody's 'mistakes' cost other people their lives, LeBeau."
(Uncanny X-Men I#347 - BTS) - Grovel
subsequently confirmed Gambit's suspicions that Spat was getting worse: "Of course, she's getting worser. You were
there when she took the bolt meant for you. Every day she gets younger
and younger. When it first started, she was OK with it. But then she
heard about what went down" (referring to Gambit's involvement
with Mr. Sinister and the Marauders).
Having covertly claimed the dagger Spat had thrown at
him, Gambit began to cut at his bonds.
(Uncanny X-Men I#347) - After
meeting up with Rogue, Joseph, and Landscape, Gambit kicked Spat's feet
out from under her and held the dagger he energized to Grovel's
throat, clarifying that he was going with them of his own free will and
that he could have overpowered them at any point.
After watching Gambit and Rogue interact, Spat
appreciated that LeBeau might actually be in love for the fist time in his
life, and she wondered if Rogue knew what happened (the Mutant Massacre).
They were subsequently confronted by the robotic Nanny
(and her robot army), who promised to take them in "forever..."
(Uncanny X-Men I#348) - Spat initially stated
"No way am I getting paid enough to deal with this!" Nanny
subsequently neutralized their powers (see
comments) and her robots swiftly had Spat and the mutants at
their mercy and took them captive.
(Uncanny X-Men I#348 (fb) - BTS) -
Grovel, Spat, Gambit and Rogue were chained up in a cell within Nanny's
base. Joseph was imprisoned in a separate chamber.
(Uncanny X-Men I#348) - After Grovel
commented "Told you so," and Spat acknowledged that she knew she should
have said "No," but that she had been unable to resist the thought of
"nailing <Gambit's> Cajun butt to the wall." She then admitted that
she had just needed to vent.
(Uncanny X-Men I#348) - She
then asked if the master lockpick (Gambit) could not get them out of this
mess, and he told her that he had been trying unsuccessfully.
(Uncanny X-Men I#349 (fb) - BTS) - Indeed able
to pick the locks, Gambit chose to wait until they had an exit strategy.
(Uncanny X-Men I#348 - BTS) - Spat
observed silently as Rogue -- though powerless -- expressed features and
memories from Sabretooth from the Mutant Massacre, although Rogue did not
recall this after returning to normal.
(Uncanny X-Men I#348) - As Rogue and
Spat futilely tried to break their chains or the post to which they were
chained, Spat refused to provide any further information to Rogue.
Appreciating that their efforts were not productive, Spat crawled into the
shadows, noting that she was not getting any younger. Gambit then grabbed
her, stating that she was indeed getting younger every day and that he
felt bad about that and other things he had done since they used to work
together. When he asked who had hired her and why, she told him that he
knew why -- and that she did not know how "even a lowlife like you" had
managed to live with himself after what he had done -- and that he would
not believe who if she told him.
(Uncanny X-Men I#349) - After Rogue
expressed her love to Gambit and he insisted that she did not know who he
was (or, more specifically what he had done), Spat grabbed Rogue's chain
when she tried to follow him (as he scampered over Grovel's back), telling
her to let him go. Rogue asked Spat to let her go to him, reminding her
that she had been his friend, but Spat said she might later. Instead, she
asked Rogue about the memory flashes she had been having. When Rogue
discussed not being able to fully understand the memories, Spat told her
it was because she was afraid of the truth.
Having broken free from his cell, Joseph
then
arrived, and -- with a plan of escape -- Gambit unlocked everyone's
chains. Joseph (apparently) instructed Gambit to leave the bounty hunters
behind as they had no time to waste, and Spat was surprised when Gambit
refused to leave them to Nanny in the middle of the Antarctic.
As the group moved through the tunnels, Spat commented
on the antagonism between Gambit and Joseph, asking if they always got
along so well. 
Shortly thereafter, they were confronted by Nanny and
her robotic servants. Spat (along with the others) confirmed that he still
had no access to her powers, but then Nanny was decapitated by Trish
Tilby, a normal human who was therefore not perceived as a threat by
Nanny.
With Nanny's destruction, all involved's powers were
restored, after which Gambit turned himself over to Grovel and Spat,
allowing Spat to bind his hands again.
(Uncanny X-Men I#350 (fb) - BTS) -
Grovel and Spat transported Gambit away in some sort of Snowcat-like
vehicle (treaded and intended to travel over heavily-snowed regions)
surrounded by a protective field (shielding them from the frigid
environment) and guided to their destination by their employer.
(Uncanny X-Men I#350) - As Gambit had
been silent since their departure, Spat asked what was the matter, noting
"you're normally nothin' but too much
talk." Gambit replied that he had nothing to say and that they
should just keep driving and get the matter done with.
Spat told Grovel that she didn't like the sound of
their "meal ticket" and that she suspected he was planning something. She
then asked Grovel to steer while she checked on Gambit, advising Grovel
that their vehicle was pre-programmed by their boss and that he just
needed to keep it going straight.
She then confronted Gambit, telling him while she still
hated him for causing her reverse aging, she wondered why he had had a
seemingly sudden fit of responsibility for the current situation and had
come along with them easily. He told her that he had felt something good
(presumably love for Rogue), but he refused to clarify further. Spat then
discovered the queen of hearts card Rogue had given Gambit, and she
knocked it out of his hands, telling him he would not need his heart where
he was going.
However, the ground then suddenly opened up below them,
and their vehicle dropped into the hole.
(Uncanny X-Men I#350 - BTS) - Tracking
Gambit, Rogue found the card she had given him in the snow and knew they
were on the right track.
(Uncanny X-Men I#350 - BTS) - Erik the
Red (still secretly Magneto) arranged for Beast, Rogue, Joseph and Trish
Tilby, as well as Archangel, Psylocke and Maggott to be present at the
trial.
(Uncanny X-Men I#350) - After Rogue
located the imprisoned Gambit, Grovel and Spat stood by Erik the Red's
side as he revealed that he had been the one to organize Gambit's capture.
Grovel asked "Erik" of he wanted Gambit "crackled
on the head," (and Spat added "or
lower?"), and Erik told them to do what they would with Gambit
and Rogue but to then bring them to the arena and await his return.
When Spat zapped Rogue with an energy
blast from her spear, Gambit told Spat not to hurt her, but Spat countered
that she could not be hurt any more than he had already hurt her. Grovel
stood behind Gambit with his tail poised like a weapon, but Gambit went
willingly..
Grovel and Spat mostly observed the trial silently. As
"Erik" forced Rogue forward to touch Gambit, absorb his memories and share
them with the court, Spat argued that she did not need to touch him, as
she (Spat) had already made her remember, but Grovel countered that Rogue
was not accepting the information.
(Uncanny X-Men I#350 - BTS) - Ultimately,
after Gambit's crimes had been revealed, Rogue used Gambit's powers to
free the other captives and escape, but the X-Men then left Gambit behind
in Antarctica to fend for himself.
(Gambit: The Hunt for the
Tomorrow Stone (fb) - BTS) - Gambit sought the Tomorrow
Stone to restore Spat's normal age and aging.
(Gambit: The Hunt for the
Tomorrow Stone (fb) - BTS) - Sekmeht Conoway sought the Tomorrow Stone to
restore/revive/resurrect her mother.
(Gambit: The Hunt for the
Tomorrow Stone) - Gambit traveled to a Guatemalan temple in search of the
Tomorrow Stone, but was mortally wounded by traps (apparently involving
spears) in the temple.
Sekmeht Conoway, having obtained the Tomorrow
Stone, used it to save Gambit's life.
(Gambit: The Hunt for the
Tomorrow Stone) <speculation based on memories, partial notes, and page
numbers from a limited number of Daerick Gross Sr.'s images> - Having
been used thusly, the Tomorrow Stone vanished, turning up in Manuelo
Griscolda's
casing unit.
(Gambit: The Hunt for the
Tomorrow Stone) <speculation based on
memories, partial notes, and page numbers from a limited number of
Daerick Gross Sr.'s images> - Gambit
and Sekmeht went to Griscolda's party and reclaimed the Tomorrow Stone.
Spat and Grovel then showed up and crashed the party.
Blowing a hole in the wall, Spat demanded the
Tomorrow Stone, which Sekmeht held in her arms. Sekmeht and Spat
disappeared with the Stone, and then Gambit and Grovel went after them.
...and then at some point, Sekmeht was convinced to
use the stone to cure Spat's de-aging (or Gambit it used it himself,
with or without Sekmeht's approval), after which it vanished again...
Once the whole
story is available, I'll revise the history...
Comments: Created by Scott
Lobdell, Joe Madureira, Tim Townsend, Eric Cannon, & Al Milgrom.
When confronted by Nanny -- who had previously
neutralized their powers -- in UXM349, Rogue asked for a power check, and
Spat replied, "Not a one." and
Grovel replied, "Not hardly."
That would seem to imply Spat and/or Grovel had powers
and were possibly mutants?
The whole Uncanny X-Men#346-350 story was a
crazy-convoluted way to reveal that Gambit had -- reluctantly (due to an
existing debt) and without knowledge of what was going to happen --
gathered the Marauders and led them into the Morlock Tunnels.
It doesn't make much sense
for me to have Magneto taking the identity of Erik the Red and secretly
masterminding this...and, why?
Why would he care that the other X-Men know that Gambit
was manipulated into contributing to this terrible event?
Because Magneto still had feelings for Rogue?
And, why would Rogue leave
Gambit to die in the Antarctic for being duped by Sinister?
I'm not sure how much of
the culmination of this plot was what was originally revealed, as Scott
Lobdell wrote Uncanny X-Men#346-349, while Steve Seagle wrote #350.
I would very much like to see Grovel and Spat show up
again and get fleshed out a bit more.
Maybe there could be a sequel to the Hunt for the
Tomorrow Stone...and maybe the Hunt for the Tomorrow Stone could
eventually make it into print...and everything I've got on that is covered
here.
According to the Marvel Database:
Spat and Grovel were created in the late '90s,
during a time ToyBiz's handling of the X-Men licensing included the
creation of action figures for even new and fairly obscure characters.
With this in mind, Spat and Grovel's creators, Scott Lobdell and Joe
Madureira, designed them with the intent to make their appearance
unsuitable to be adapted into action figures. In spite of that, Spat and
Grovel were featured in ToyBiz's 1998 Marvel's Most Wanted
action figure series.
This profile was completed 10/06/2024,
but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th
anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Spat should be distinguished from:
- SPATS ( )
- 1930s criminal, agent of Death Master--Savage Action#8/4
- other "Spat"
characters, groups, items, events, races or places...
images: (without ads)
Uncanny X-Men I##347, pg. 4 (standing on Gambit);
pg. 5, panel 4 (climbing atop Grovel);
panel 6 (face);
#350, pg. 21, panel 1 (with Erik the Red
& Grovel);
panel 2 (shadowed, blasting Rogue);
Gambit: The Hunt for the Tomorrow Stone chapter 2,
pg. 8 (black & white, holding pistol)
Appearances:
Uncanny X-Men I#346 (August, 1997) - Scott Lobdell (writer),
Humberto Ramos (penciler), Tim Townsend (inker), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#347 (September, 1997) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Joe
Madureira (penciler), Tim Townsend, Eric Cannon, & Al Milgrom
(inkers), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#348 (October, 1997) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Joe
Madureira & Andy Smith (pencilers), Tim Townsend, John Holdredge,
& Al Vey (inkers), Mark Powers (assistant editor), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#349 (November, 1997) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Chris
Bachalo (artist), Mark Powers (assistant editor), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#350 (December, 1997) - Steve Seagle(writer), Joe Madureira
& Andy Smith (pencilers), Tim Townsend with Vince Russell & Dan
Panosian (inkers), Mark Powers (assistant editor), Bob Harras (editor)
Gambit: The Hunt for the Tomorrow Stone (December 27, 1999)
- Fabian Nicieza (writer), Daerick Gross Sr.
(artist),
First posted: 09/24/2026
Last updated: 10/06/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099
Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you
should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to
www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
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