SAVIOUR

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Magical entity (possibly a god or a demon)

Occupation: Opponent of technology

Group Membership: Unrevealed

Affiliations: Formerly Devos;
    indirectly Jimmy's father and the people associated with Gycon

Enemies: Boom Boom (Tabitha Smith), Red Water Fall, Wolverine (Logan/James Howlett)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: The Deadman

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly Prescott, New York

First Appearance: Wolverine: Evilution (September, 1994)

Powers/Abilities: The Saviour's full powers are undefined, but he is superhumanly strong (enhanced human to Class 10?) and durable (virtually immune to non-magical insult). He laughed off punches and claw slashes from Wolverine. He could speak to and influence others telepathically, and he could switch between physical forms and a wispy, gaseous form, congealing as desired to interact with others. He was unclothed.
    He claimed to always be present, waiting in the hearts of men that were too curious for their own good, and he comes to put things as they should be...as they were before men desecrated his world.

Height: Perhaps 10'
Weight: Perhaps 1275 lbs. (variable down to negligible mass by adopting gaseous form)
Eyes: Glowing green
Hair: Gray

History: Saviour's origins are unrevealed.

(Wolverine: Evilution (fb) - BTS) - Saviour apparently died and was buried long ago in the forest near what would become Prescott, New York.

(Wolverine: Evilution (fb) - BTS) - When a new US government regulation ordered an increased amount of uninhabited land around nuclear power plants, the Gycon nuclear plant in Prescott, New York was shut down. A corporation known as Gycon began buying out local farmers in the surrounding area, though one of them, an elderly Native American known as Red Water Fall, refused to sell.

(Wolverine: Evilution (fb) - BTS) - Reading from an unidentified plaque, Jimmy, one of the Devos (a teen group dedicated to devolution, to dragging society back to a time before technology), apparently found some ritual by which they could use certain magic items to reverse time.

(Wolverine: Evilution (fb) - BTS) - As a sacred Native American totem was stolen from a local museum by Jimmy +/- other Devos, Red Water Fall sensed the awakening of an old and angry entity in the forest.

(Wolverine: Evilution) - Haunted by a dream about Prescott and nature vs. technology, Wolverine traveled there, and he soon encountered Red Water Fall, who had had a vision of a stranger coming to help. Red Water Fall told Wolverine of the recent occurrences, noting that all men must change/adapt or die.
    Meanwhile, several kids found some radioactive waste from a dentist's office (see comments) in the trash. Since it glowed a cool color, they thought it was magic paint, and they put it on each other's faces. Soon enough, they began to keel over, dying from radiation poisoning.
    Following a voice in his head, Jimmy dug at a certain spot in the jungle, releasing the spirit of the Saviour back into the mortal world. Saviour told him to get a woman for them, and as Jimmy continued to dig, he found a buried coffin. Gathering three other Devos, he unearthed the coffin, opened it to reveal a mummy-like wrapped being, and read from a book while the others chanted and danced while sacrificing chickens and other animals (strangling them with telephone cords to represent technology killing organic life). Eventually the bandaged corpse vanished.
    Also around the same time, Steven, another of the Devos accompanied his father to a Masonic meeting at the Historical Museum and Archive in Germany where he stole the Spear of Destiny.
    Wolverine ordered Boom Boom -- who sometimes hung out in Prescott and had been drawn to investigate the stolen totem -- to leave the town, but she sneaked into Jimmy's house, and ran into Jimmy (his eyes now glowing, as if possessed by the Saviour). Playing along with him, she agreed to join his club. He led her to a Devo meeting at the Gycon power plant, and Saviour appeared before them, telling them that their thirst for knowledge had brought him back. They were to begin a test, and if Boom Boom was strong enough to survive it, she could become one of them; otherwise, they would gain knowledge through her dissection. When the Devos began sacrificing animals using scalpel blades between their fingers (appearing like Wolverine's claws), Boom Boom generated some time bombs to knock the Devos back. Deciding she was too weak to join them, Jimmy ordered her death, deciding that her explosive power made her a techno-animal that they could dissect and learn from. Using the animals as hostages, the Devos forced her to surrender.
    Seeking a vision to guide him, Red Water Fall asked Wolverine to watch over his body as he entered a dream. Wolverine fought off a number of attackers in shadows (the town fathers, convinced by the head of Gycon that they had to eliminate Red Water Fall so that they could leave the plant), leaving them alive but scarred for later identification, while Red Water Fall dreamed of Boom Boom and a spear.
    Bound to pipes in the Gycon plant, Boom Boom sent out some time bombs, shattering a steamline before the Saviour appeared before her, telling her accept the honor of her sacrifice, but she denounced him.
    The power of the Saviour, perhaps combining the energies of the Devos' emotions and sacrifices, plus the other mystic totems, began melting some of the city's technology, such as televisions, telephones, and automobile engines (it seemed like things near to the men who had attempted to kill Red Water fall were most affected). As Steven brought the others the Spear of Destiny, Jimmy's father, apparently the owner of Gycon, tried to remove him from the Devos, but Jimmy fought back and fled.
    As the Devos brought the Spear of Destiny to the Gycon plant, it began to glow. In the surrounding city, birds began to fly south months too early and electricity began shoot out of sockets, as if looking for appliances to power. The effect accelerated and began to spread, and more machinery melted.
    As the Devos prepared to sacrifice the "techno-woman" Boom Boom (whom they saw as representing how dependent and entwined man had become with machine) with the Spear of Destiny, believing this would bring the human race back before the technological revolution. Red Water Fall convinced Wolverine to save Boom Boom without harming the Devos, and Red Water Fall cut Boom Boom free, but then the Saviour himself appeared. He laughed off Wolverine's assaults, including claw slashes, though Wolverine also dodged one of his attacks, sending the Saviour crashing into some machinery. Saviour grabbed Boom Boom, but she broke free by briefly blinding him with explosions. Red Water Fall convinced Wolverine to use the Spear of Destiny, and Wolverine thrust it into Saviour's chest. Dissolving into vapor, Saviour promised that his sleep would not be eternal, "We will be back..."

    Wolverine recommended the Devos return to their parents and give up their plans to change fate. The Gycon plant was condemned and permanently closed, and Red Water Fall planted new crops. Soon the entire town of Prescott was back in church together.

Comments: Created by Ann Nocenti, Mark Texeira, John Royle, Philip Moy, & Andrew Pepoy.

    It might be speculated that Saviour is an agent of Gaea, as he opposed technology. He also might be some agent of the Anasazi/Manidoog (Native American gods), or perhaps some demon that fed on certain emotions...or something else.
    When Wolverine threatens him, Saviour says, "You can't kill the dead."
    The vague note about him existing in the hearts of men that were too curious for their own good would make him seem most like some demonic entity to me. If you're in contact with Ann Nocenti, feel free to ask her!

    I'm not sure what they were going for with radioactive waste from dental x-rays. It's been a long time since I took the radiology courses, but IIRC, there's neither radioactive isotopes nor waste products from x-ray units. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray
    Perhaps there might be use of certain isotope (like radioactive iodine) for scintigraphy or something, but that's about all I can think of.

    An editor's note specifies that this story takes place before X-Men II#25 (when Magneto tore out Wolverine's Adamantium).

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
No KNOWN connections to:

The Devos have no known connection to:

DEVOS

    They were a Prescott, New York teen group dedicated to devolution, to dragging society back to a time before technology. Known members included Jimmy & Steven. Possibly influenced by the Saviour, they apparently discovered a plaque containing a ritual by which they could reverse time as they desired via the use of a series of magic items. Based on this, Jimmy +/- other members stole an unspecified magical totem from the local museum, which further awakened/strengthened the Saviour. Another member, Steven, accompanied his father (a member of the Masons) to the Historical Museum and Archive in Germany where he stole the Spear of Destiny. Jimmy became increasingly influenced, and perhaps even possessed, by the Saviour. When Boom Boom investigated, they captured her, intending to sacrifice her via the Spear of Destiny, believing this would facilitate their technology-destroying spell.
    Jimmy's father was the president of Gycon nuclear power plant. He tried to force Jimmy to stop working with the Devos, but Jimmy fought him off and continued his activities, presumably influenced by the Saviour. Jimmy also had a younger sister named Suzy.
    Wolverine took out the Devos without hurting them badly, then drove off the Saviour, after which the Devos apparently took his advice, went home to their parents, and gave up their plots to change man's fate.

 

 

Jimmy's on the left, and Steven on the right.

--Wolverine: Evilution

 

GYCON NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

    A Prescott, New York based facility, it was shut down due to new regulations regarding increased need for unoccupied land surround such plants. In an effort to obtain such unoccupied land, Gycon bought out local landowners, except Red Water Fall who refused to sell. Gycon's president convinced some of the townspeople to assault Red Water Fall to force him to sell. They were fought off by Wolverine, though they were then affected by the magic involving the Saviour, which began to melt the technology they contacted.
    This effect apparently ended with the Saviour's banishment, but Gycon was condemned and permanently closed soon after.
    Gycon's apparent president was the father of the Devos' Jimmy.

--Wolverine: Evilution

 

 

    The image on the left represents a vision of Gycon that Wolverine dreamed. He symbolically dwarfed the town in the vision.

 

 

RED WATER FALL

    A Native American (nation not specified), he was named for when, as an infant, in his first bath the water ran red. It was said that he held back the red tide.
    His family had owned large plot of land near the Gycon plant's location since the government land allotment, over 100 years ago. When Gycon sought to buy out all the surrounding land so they could have enough unoccupied land to legally run their facility, he refused to sell. Around the same time, he began to sense the presence of the Saviour as something very old and very angry awakening in the forests. He also sensed the theft of the totem by the Devos. He had a vision of a stranger coming to help, and he soon after encountered and befriended Wolverine, though Wolverine initially tried to avoid becoming involved. Wolverine watched over him as he dreamed a vision of the town's true threats, protecting him from men sent by Gycon's owner to force him to sell the land (or perhaps even to kill him). Subsequently leading Wolverine to the Gycon plant, he convinced Wolverine to take out the Devos without hurting them, helped him free the captured Boom Boom, and guided him to use the Spear of Destiny to banish the Saviour.

    Though loyal to the old ways, Red Water Fall realized that in life, one must change/adapt or die.

--Wolverine: Evilution

 

 

 

SUZY

    Jimmy's younger sister, she was scared by him using a fake head he'd found in the forest

--Wolverine: Evilution

 

 

 

totem

    Stolen from a local museum by Jimmy +/- other Devos, it apparently had magical powers associated with the Saviour.

--Wolverine: Evilution

 

 

 

 

 

images: (without ads)
Wolverine: Evilution, p2, panel 1& 4 (Suzy)
    p3 (Gycon)
    p7, panel 3-4 (totem)
    p15, panel 1 (Red Water Fall)
    p17, panel 2 (Gycon president)
    p18, panel 3 (Jimmy face)
    p23, panel 1 (Steven face)
    p43, panel 1 (Saviour)

Appearances:
Wolverine: Evilution (September, 1994) - by Ann Nocenti (writer), Mark Texeira (layouts), John Royle (penciler), Philip Moy & Andrew Pepoy (inkers), Suzanne Gaffney (editor)
(Spear of Destiny only) Life of Christ: The Easter Story (1993) - by Louise Simonson (Script), Mary Wilshire; Colleen Doran (Pencils), Bill Anderson (Inks), Sarra Mossoff (Colors), Dave Sharpe (Letters).

Last updated: 08/28/08

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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