TANTRA
Real Name: Reuben O'Hara
Identity/Class: Human mutant
Occupation: Student
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Xavier Institute student body (Jeffrey Garrett, Gloom/Jordan Lewis, Overlay/Zach Halliwell, Rubbermaid/Andrea Margulies, Saurus/Jorge Lukas, Silicon/Stan Finch, other unidentified students), X-Men (Emma Frost), X-Treme X-Men (Bishop/Lucas Bishop, Sage/"Tessa", Storm/Ororo Munroe)
Enemies: Elias Bogan, X-Treme X-Men (Bishop/Lucas Bishop, Sage/"Tessa")
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters
First Appearance: X-Treme X-Men I#20 (March, 2003)
Powers/Abilities: Apart from his physical, elephantine appearance mutation, Tantra possessed emotion enhancing powers which he manifested through energy flares that allowed him to manipulate the emotions of those around him. Playful and slightly mischievous, he seemed uncaring of the ethical implications of using his powers on others for his own amusement.
Height: 5'7" (by approximation)
Weight: 235 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Grey
Hair: None
History:
(X-Treme X-Men I#20) - When seven naked people were found frozen to death on Alaska's McKenn glacier, all evidence pointed to a mutant murderer. This got X-Treme
X-Men members Bishop & Sage involved in the investigation. The duo decided to pay a visit to the Xavier Institute, figuring it would be an ideal hiding place for a mutant on the run. However, headmistress Emma Frost wasn't thrilled at the notion of opening her school up for a crime scene investigation and motivated some of her students to play with the
X-Men a little. As such, Tantra used his emotional energy flare powers to make Bishop and Sage fall in love with the trees. Actually unaffected by Tantra's powers, Bishop and Sage simply decided to play along to not arouse suspicion too much. Only after Frost actually wanted the students to remove them from the grounds did they reveal their immunity. Allowing the two mutant investigators access to the school, it didn't take long for Bishop & Sage to match the mutant energy signature they found at the Alaska crime scene with that of recent recruit, the teleporter Jeffrey Garrett. Freaked out for having been found out, Jeffrey teleported the two to Times Square where they appeared without any clothes on.
(X-Treme X-Men I#21) - Tantra was revealed to have befriended Jeffrey Grrett, along with his friends Silicon, Gloom, Rubbermaid and two unidentified X-students.
(X-Treme X-Men I#22) - Unbeknownst to anyone, the malevolent psychic entity known as Elias Bogan mind-controlled Emma Frost and took over her body in order to check in on the students' sleeping quarters where Tantra and the others were staying. Opposed by Storm, the fight that ensued woke up Tantra and the others. The panic among the student body increased even more when Bishop and Sage made their way in to apprehend Jeffrey Garrett. Acting on Bogan's orders, Garrett teleported all mutants present to the Danger Room where an interactive, unrestricted holographic program was running that replayed events that led up to the Alaska murders.
(X-Treme X-Men I#23) - Trapped in the Danger Room and forced to participate in the murder drama, Tantra and the other students were imprisoned by Bogan as the events began to unravel. Despite their protests to let them and the teachers go, Bogan tried to torture Jeffrey Garrett just before the boy used all his might to teleport himself, Frost and the captured students out of the Danger Room. After Bishop, Sage and Storm managed to defeat Bogan, it was revealed that Tantra and the others had no memory of the recent events, revealing Bogan was masterful at covering his tracks. Cleared of the murder charges when Bogan's mental influence became obvious, Jeffrey Garrett teleported all the students including Tantra to the snow-covered plains of Alaska to unwind during a friendly snowball fight.
(X-Men II#157) - Tantra was seen on the grounds along with Gloom and Saurus when Lucinda Guthrie dropped of her son Icarus (Jay Guthrie) for his first day as part of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
(House of M#8 - BTS) - Tantra was one of the many millions mutants who lost their powers when a reality altering spell cast by the Scarlet Witch reduced the number of gene active mutants to a mere 200 worldwide (closer to 300 on subsequent estimates--Snood).
(New X-Men II#23 - BTS) - Two weeks after the massive depowering event that became known as M-Day, it was decided by headmasters Cyclops and Emma Frost that all depowered students should return home for their own safety. A first busload of students had already left and a second with another 42 former mutant teens was about to leave when the vehicle was blown up by the Purifiers who launched a missile strike that killed everyone by order of reverend William Stryker. It was never revealed if Tantra was on the first or second bus.
(New Avengers I#17 - BTS) - Tantra's mutant energies joined with those of the other depowered mutants, creating the Collective, a massive force presence that ended up killing, among others, most of the members of the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight.
(New Avengers I#18 - BTS) - SHIELD analyzed the Collective's multiple energy signatures and managed to identify Tantra's, along with 50+ other victims of M-Day.
Comments: Created by Chris Claremont & Salvador Larroca
As all students of the Xavier Institute were selected to join special training squads mentored by members of the X-Men, Tantra could have been a part of the Excelsiors (Iceman's squad), the Exemplars (Beast's squad) or the Paladins (Shadowcat's squad) whose rosters have never been revealed.
Profile by MarvellousLuke
CLARIFICATIONS:
Tantra has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
X-Treme X-Men I#20, p19, pan3 (main image)
X-Treme X-Men I#20, p19, pan4 (Bishop & Sage affected by powers)
X-Treme X-Men I#23, p12, pan5 (imprisoned)
Appearances:
X-Treme X-Men I#20 (March, 2003) - Chris Claremont (writer), Salvador Larroca (pencils, inks), Mike Raicht, Andrew Lis (editors)
X-Treme X-Men I#21 (April, 2003) - Chris Claremont (writer), Salvador Larroca (pencils, inks), Mike Raicht, Andrew Lis (editors)
X-Treme X-Men I#22 (May, 2003) - Chris Claremont (writer), Salvador Larroca (pencils, inks), Mike Raicht, Andrew Lis (editors)
X-Treme X-Men I#23 (May, 2003) - Chris Claremont (writer), Salvador Larroca (pencils, inks), Mike Raicht, Andrew Lis (editors)
X-Men II#157 (July, 2004) - Chuck Austin (writer), Salvador Larroca (pencils), Danny Miki (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
New Avengers I#18 (June, 2006) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Mike Deodato Jr. (pencils), Joe Pimentel (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Last updated: 12/30/13
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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