ASHTON WITHER
ASHTON WITHER
Real Name: Ashton Wither
Identity/Class: Human mutant
Occupation: Arms dealer, terrorist
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Mutant Civil Rights Task Force (Paul Duncan, Catherine Gray, Kendall Green, Aaron Kearse)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "You mutie freak" (insult from Paul Duncan)
Base of Operations: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
First Appearance: X-Factor II#2 (July, 2002)
Powers/Abilities: Ashton Wither possessed the mutant ability to degenerate muscle tissue, down to the bone if desired.
Height: Unrevealed (see comments)
Weight: Unrevealed (see comments)
Eyes: Unrevealed, glowing yellow when using powers
Hair: Brown
History: (X-Factor II#2 (fb)) - Posing as arms
buyers for a sting operation, FBI agents Kendall Green and Aaron Kearse
met with arms dealer Ashton Wither to discuss purchasing rocket
launchers. Upon meeting, Green asked if they were alone and Wither
replied that Green was making him nervous. Green assured Wither that
they only wanted to make sure there would be no surprises before Wither
opened his van to reveal it full of prosthetic arms. Thinking Wither
was joking with the prosthetic arms, Green and Kearse reminded Wither
that they were looking for rocket launchers and not prosthetic arms but
Wither responded by saying they weren't looking for arms yet before
using his mutant abilities on the two agents' arms. As the agents fell
to the ground, Ashton Wither bragged about his power to degenerate
muscle tissue in the human body and revealed that he knew they were
with the FBI, suggesting that they should have done their intelligence
work before confronting Wither. Explaining that his abilities allowed
him to work alone, Wither got back in his van and drove off, warning
that humans would never catch him and suggesting they both enjoy their
new arms.
(X-Factor
II#4 (fb) - BTS) - Following Ashton
Wither's attack on Kearse and Green, Kendall Green's marriage suffered
and his wife ultimately left him while Kearse internalized his anger at
Wither and mutants in general. Blaming Wither for his problems,
Green developed an unhealthy obsession with avenging himself on Ashton
Wither, who was eventually taken into custody in Jersey City by Mutant
Civil Rights Task Force agent Paul Duncan. Knowing Green had a grudge
against Wither and wishing to weed out the agents he didn't trust
within the MCRTF, Duncan turned Ashton Wither over to Kendall Green.
Chaining Wither to a wall with power-inhibiting bonds, Green merely
stared at Wither for a few days before deciding to take his rage out on
Ashton Wither, refusing to kill the former arms dealer.
(X-Factor
II#4) - While investigating corruption
within the Mutant Civil Rights Task Force, Agents Aaron Kearse and
Catherine Gray visited the now-deceased Kendall Green's home, where
they eventually stumbled onto Ashton Wither in the basement. Revealing
how he had gotten there, Wither asked for death at the hands of Aaron
Kearse but Kearse instead used his cybernetic arm to destroy the
shackles holding Wither up, admitting that despite wanting Wither, he
couldn't go through with murdering him. When Ashton accused Kearse of
being a weak, dying species, Agent Paul Duncan arrived by surprisingly
agreeing with Wither's remarks. Announcing that there was a bomb
heading straight for the X-Men's Xavier Institute intended to start a
war between mutants and humans, Duncan pointed a gun at Wither's head
while he announced his plans to destroy mutants in the impending war.
As he continued his speech, Duncan began to feel intense pain in his
feet, followed by his face and hands. Kearse immediately recognized the
effect as Ashton Wither's mutant powers and ordered Ashton to stop but
Wither mumbled that Duncan was a monster and did not stop using his
powers until Paul Duncan was dead. Wither then whispered how he saved
Kearse's life before collapsing to the ground.
Comments: Created by Jeff Jensen and Arthur Ranson.
Ashton Wither's height & weight were impossible
to approximate, as he was never seen next to anyone whose official
height & weight had been given.
Profile by Proto-Man.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Ashton Wither has no KNOWN connections to:
images: (without ads)
X-Factor II#2, p5, pan1 (Ashton Wither, main image)
X-Factor II#2, p4, pan5 (Ashton Wither, headshot)
X-Factor II#2, p5, pan3 (Ashton Wither using powers)
X-Factor II#4, p10, pan1 (Ashton Wither in power-inhibiting bonds)
Appearances:
X-Factor II#2 (July, 2002) - Jeff Jensen (writer), Arthur Ranson (art), Mark Powers, Andrew Lis (editors)
X-Factor II#4 (October, 2002) - Jeff Jensen (writer), Arthur Ranson (art), Andrew Lis (editor)
Last updated: 01/20/17
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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