VINDALOO
Real Name: Venkat Katragadda
Identity/Class: Human mutant
Occupation: Terrorist
Group Membership: Acolytes (Kamal al Alaoui, Barnacle/Mortimer
Everett,
Fabian Cortez, Exodus/Bennett du Paris, Frenzy/Joanna Cargill, Gargouille/Lavinia LeBlanc, Katu Kath,
Kleinstock Brothers/Harlan & Sven Kleinstock, Neophyte/Simon Hall, Polaris/Lorna Dane,
Projector/Zachary Williams, Rem-Ram/Marcus Andrews, Scanner/Sarah
Ryall, Seamus Mellencamp, Senyaka/Suvik Senyaka,
Static/Gianna Carina Esperanza, Spoor/Andrew
Hamish Graves, Unuscione/Carmella
Unuscione, Amelia Voght, others)
Affiliations: Absorbing Man (Carl Creel), Azimuth, Boomerang (Frederick Myers), Ferris, Magneto (Max Eisenhardt), Scrambler (Kim Il Sung), Stinger (Wendy Sherman), X-Ray (James Darnell)
Enemies: High Evolutionary (Herbert Edgar
Wyndham), Genoshan Magistrates, X-Men (Angel/Warren Worthington III,
Colossus/Piotr Rasputin, Gambit/Remy LeBeau, Marrow/Sarah,
Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, Professor X/Charles Xavier, Rogue/Anna Marie,
Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde, Storm/Ororo Munroe, Wolverine/James "Logan"
Howlett)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Vindy (nickname given by Seamus
Mellencamp)
Base of Operations: Mobile;
formerly Genosha;
formerly India (presumably)
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men I#366 (March, 1999)
Powers/Abilities: Vindaloo excretes a highly
flammable gel from his pores that ignites once exposed to oxygen,
creating a fiery stream of napalm he can shoot from his hands or throw
as fireballs. Using both hands to fire a blast apparently intensifies
its effects significantly, although he cannot melt Adamantium or
Colossus' organic steel skin. Revelling in his power and apparently a
bit of a pyromaniac, Vindaloo has no problems using his deadly fire
against people.
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 160 lbs
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
History:
(Uncanny X-Men I#366 - BTS) - Vindaloo joined the Acolytes, eager and willing to prove himself.
(Uncanny X-Men I#366 - BTS) - In preparation for his
latest world conquering scheme, Magneto (Max Eisenhardt) ordered his
Acolytes to keep the X-Men busy and distracted until his preparations
for shifting the Earth's magnetic poles were completed.
(Uncanny X-Men I#366) - Vindaloo and the Acolytes struck a series of genetic research facilities by order of Magneto, as they moved north towards their master's base. After the Acolytes hit a genetic research lab in central Minnesota, the X-Men were tailing them. Eventually, the two teams met and fought at a remote Canadian chemical processing lab. The fight proved to be a trap however, when the X-Men were lured to the bottom of a holding tank, while the superstrong Acolyte Kamal al Aloui tossed a reservoir of liquid flame retardant into the bassin, hoping to drown their fellow mutants. Vindaloo and the others made a clean escape inside their ship, yet moved at such a deliberately slow pace the X-Men could keep up with them. Figuring the Acolytes were luring them to somewhere, the X-Men's suspicions were confirmed when over the icy wastelands of the North Pole their Blackbird got hit by Magneto's global EM-pulse and crashed, while the Acolytes looked on from the safety of their shielded aircraft.
(X-Men II#86) -Vindaloo didn't really care about what
happened to the X-Men, trying to survive both the freezing cold and the
electromagnetic storm outside. Casually reading a book, he noticed how
his fellow Acolytes argued the merits of letting the X-Men die out
there. The team was alarmed by the sudden appearance of Charles Xavier's
astral form inside the ship, Vindaloo at the ready to blast him.
However, it was Scanner who rebuffed the professor's plea to aid them,
using her powers to force him back in his body.
(X-Men II#86 - BTS) - In the brief moment he had
telepathically communicated with the Acolytes, Xavier had worked his way
into most of their minds, subtly influencing from a distance. His first
act was to have Cargill unknowingly extend the shields of the Acolytes'
vessel to protect the X-Men.
(X-Men II#86) - Moments later, X-man and Acolyte alike were surprised by the detonation of several nuclear missiles near Magneto's tower, fired by the UN in retaliation.
(Uncanny X-Men I#367) - Thanks to Xavier's mental
influence, the Acolytes' shielding had protected the team from the
nuclear fall out. Ordering the X-Men to play dead, he then stimulated
the minds of their more agressive members so they would agree to leave
the ship and make sure their enemies were really finished. Vindaloo was
the first to realise they were being played and tried to shoot Xavier
and Shadowcat with his fiery napalm, but her phasing powers kept them
both safe. Forced to pick another target, Vindaloo took several shots at
Storm, who dodged his blasts with ease. Vindaloo and the others were
knocked out when Colossus used his organic metal form to serve as a
giant lightning rod, attracting enough electromagnetic energy to stun
their enemies. By then, Kitty Pryde had been able to penetrate the
Acolytes' ship, taking out the Acolytes who had stayed behind to guard
it with relative ease. The X-Men entered the craft and went on their
way, leaving Vindaloo defeated and stranded during his first outing as
an Acolyte.
(X-Force I#94) - While on a covert mission in Magneto controlled Genosha, X-Force watched from a safe distance how Vindaloo and a group of his fellow Acolytes fought against the Genoshan Magistrates who were still struggling to reclaim the island.
(Uncanny X-Men I#379) - Vindaloo and the other Acolytes
fainted in agony as a result of the High Evolutionary activating his
global mutation-neutralization program.
(New X-Men I#116 - BTS) - Vindaloo survived the genocide on Genosha committed by Cassandra Nova's Sentinels.
(Uncanny X-Men I#492 - BTS) - Following an undocumented falling out with Exodus (Bennett du Paris), Vindaloo and several of his fellow Acolytes left the fold and struck out on their own.
(Uncanny X-Men I#492 - BTS) - When Mr. Sinister and his
Marauders, among them new member Exodus, kidnapped the first mutant baby
born since M-Day, the X-Men decided their best bet to getting a lead on
Sinister was by chasing down other former followers of Magneto.
(Uncanny X-Men I#492) - Angel spotted the Acolyte
Gargouille leaving the safe house Vindaloo and the others had been using
and signalled Colossus to slam through the wall. He immediately faced
Neophyte and Vindaloo, while the former phased out, the latter
immediately attacked, hoping that his napalm would be sufficient to burn
through his enemy's organic steel skin. Vindaloo was taken out when
Wolverine manoeuvred his Acolyte teammate Projector to land on him. The
scared Neophyte then told the X-Men all they needed to know.
(X-Men Legacy I#225 - BTS) - Vindaloo was seen in the
image Exodus generated of the Acolytes, when he tried to convince
Charles Xavier his crusade on behalf of mutantkind was just.
(Deadpool v Gambit#4 (fb)) - Vindaloo joined a supervillain support group where he met other superhuman criminals Scrambler (Kim Il Sung), Azimuth, Stinger (Wendy Sherman) and X-Ray (James Darnell).
(Deadpool v Gambit#3) - Scrambler hosted a BBQ-party for his friends: several well-known superhuman criminals like Absorbing Man, Azimuth, Boomerang, Scalphunter, Stinger, Vindaloo and X-Ray. During the party Deadpool and Gambit showed up to get Scrambler. However, seeing the heroes the other superhuman criminals immediately engaged the heroes providing Scrambler with an opportunity to flee the scene. Gambit and Deadpool were unable to follow Scrambler when Fat Cobra suddenly appeared.
Comments: Created by Alan Davis & Fabian
Nicieza (writers), Leinil Francis Yu (pencils & inks)
Considering Vindaloo and the other Acolytes moved to
Genosha with Magneto in the late 90s and stayed there for at least a
little while after the Cassandra Nova incident, one could reason he was
there for the Eve of Destruction event, not to mention the two Magneto
limited series.
I always wondered why Venkat was named after vindaloo, a type of Indian curry... That is, until I actually had some chicken vindaloo and one bite was all it took to convince me it was the perfect name for a napalm throwing baddie. Still, to name the one Indian supervillain in many a moon after the food his native land is known for? That's as silly as having a Spanish amphibian running around with a codename like Paella, or wait til you meet the Scottish superhero Haggis. I really don't wanna know, smell or taste his superpower, though.
Vindaloo, along with the other Acolytes, received profiles
in Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe A-Z#1 and Marvel
Encyclopedia: X-Men.
Profile by Norvo.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Vindaloo should not be confused with
images: (without ads)
Uncanny X-Men I#367, p9, pan3 (main image)
X-Men II#86, p12, pan3 (reading)
Uncanny X-Men I#492, p9, pan4 (versus Colossus)
Appearances:
Uncanny X-Men I#366 (March, 1999) -
Alan Davis & Fabian Nicieza, Leinil Francis Yu, Mark Powers
(editor)
X-Men II#86 (March, 1999) - Alan Davis & Fabian
Nicieza (writers), Alan Davis (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Mark Powers
(editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#367 (April, 1999) -
Alan Davis & Fabian Nicieza, Leinil Francis Yu, Mark Powers
(editor)
X-Men II#87 (April, 1999) - Alan Davis
& Fabian Nicieza (writers), Alan Davis (pencils), Mark Farmer
(inks), Mark Powers (editor)
X-Force I#94 (September, 1999) - John Francis Moore (writer), Jim Cheung
(pencils), Mark Morales, Rodney Ramos, Scott Koblish, Robert Stull (inks),
Jason Liebig (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#492 (January, 2008) - Ed Brubaker (writer), Billy Tan
(pencils), Danny Miki & Allen Martinez (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
X-Men Legacy I#225 (August, 2009) - Mike Carey (writer), Phil Briones
(pencils & inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Last updated: 11/26/17
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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