The Neo are a subspecies of mutants that lived in seclusion. When the High Evolutionary switched off all mutant genes, several Neo died, as they had been relying on their powers right in this instant; some drowned, others fell from great heights. The survivors were very angry and tracked down Mr. Sinister, who had allied with the Evolutionary, and the X-Men as they had been in his orbital station too (though actually to destroy the power negating machinery).
This page is only about the Warclan of the Neo that bothered the X-Men a few times. The other splinter groups like the Shockwave Riders, the Lost Souls, the Goth or the Crimson Pirates, who were hinted to be connected to the Neo somehow, have to make a few more appearances to qualify for their own entries.
Leader: Domina
Membership: Domina, Jaeger, Kilmer, Rax, Barbican, Static III, (Seth), Elysia, Tartarus, Salvo II, Anteus, Junction
First appearance: X-Men (2nd series) #99
Last appearance: X-Men (2nd series) #110
Before
None of the Neo appeared before. They managed to keep their society isolated for a very long time.
Chronology
| X-Men (2nd series) #99: | As the High Evolutionary activates his machines on an orbital space station, worldwide all mutant genes are switched off. The Neo have to mourn many casualties, some of them were using their powers and when they suddenly lost them they were to deep underwater, or flying to high and died. Among the dead is the daughter of Domina and Hunter. They swear revenge on whoever is responsible. |
| X-Men (2nd series) #100: | Six months later, the Warclan of the Neo has tracked down Nightcrawler in New York. Rax attempts to shoot him, but slightly misses and Kurt survives, though badly injured. He teleports away to the medical practice of Cecilia Reyes. Jaeger says that it is his right to perform the kill and hunts Nightcrawler down again, but after a brief battle he is killed by a spike of Cecilia’s forcefield. Nearby Domina and her people recognize the death of their tribesman. Meanwhile, in outer space the X-Men make repairs to the station formerly used by the Evolutionary. One of the crewmen is named Seth and he starts dating Shadowcat. Yet he is one of the Neo and after sabotaging the station he tries to kidnap her thinking that she too is of Neo heritage. |
| X-Men (2nd series) #101: | While hiding from the Neo, Nightcrawler and Cecilia run into policewoman Charlotte Jones, who tries to bring in the criminal Rufus Delgado. The villain drops some vials of a new performance enhancing drug called Rave. Cecilia thinks it too dangerous to let it lie around and grabs the vials, before taking Kurt to the basement of an abandoned apartment complex, but again Domina’s group hunts them down. As Nightcrawler faints out, Cecilia finds herself alone against the powerful opponents; she decides to use the Rave herself. Nearby Jones, Delgado and Archangel all enter a building where they meet two younger Neo – Elysia and Tartarus. In illusionary scenarios Archangel finds himself surrounded by all the women he loved, while Charlotte is on a pile of bones composed of Delgados victims. Suddenly bones grow out of her back. |
| X-Men (2nd series) #102: | Wolverine and Moonstar have uncovered one of Sinister’s bases. They discover that recently the Neo were here and killed both Sinister and Sabretooth, now for the seventeenth time (!) since they have found similar evidence in other bases before. In New York, Cecilia is fighting against the superstrong Anteus and thanks to the drug she is able to stand her ground, surprisingly she even defeats him by knocking him out with a big baseball bat formed out of her forcefield. Nearly exhausted she now has to shield herself, Kurt and some innocent people from Salvo‘s gunfire, as finally the X-Men arrive to help. However Domina shows how powerful she is as she taps into the powers of her Warclan to fight each X-Man with a power suited to deal with him. Only Wolverine is able to hold her at bay, but suddenly Domina orders Barbican to seal the building. To not get trapped the X-Men hurry out of the complex, but Cecilia stays behind as Charlotte Jones is still missing. Outside the X-Men witness as all doors and windows vanish to get replaced by massive walls. |
| X-Men (2nd series) #106: | For weeks Cecilia has been eluding the Neo inside the huge complex, and from her hiding spots she watches Domina train to kill the X-Men. Because of an interaction of their horror scenarios caused by Tartarus, Charlotte Jones and Delgado have merged into one being equipped with claws and wings, Delgado is the dominant part and the creature hunts down the Neo inside the complex, but also forms an alliance with Rax, who starts to plot behind Domina’s back. Outside, the X-Men watch the complex and discuss strategies. Nightcrawler and Wolverine teleport inside and rescue Elysia from an attack of Delgado. They meet with Cecilia, who blames them for not having come sooner. The three mutants are able to convince Elysia that the X-Men were not involved in the worldwide powerloss six months ago. At the same time Rax orders Junction to teleport him out, where he fights with Rogue and defeats her (but she only pretends). He offers her an alliance too to overpower Domina, and Rogue agrees. Though after Rax left she calls her team and reveals that she does not trust him. As Rax opens them the front door, the X-Men immediately start to fight the assembled Neo. Rogue takes on Domina, but the fight is interrupted by Delgado. The X-Men help to deal with the horror creature and Elysia can convince Domina to let the X-Men go, though she is not yet able to trust them. After the team leave with Cecilia and Charlotte the door is sealed off again. |
| Gambit (3rd series) #22: | Rax tries to prove himself by fighting against Gambit all by himself. He tracks him down to New Orleans and starts a fight, but Gambit with his upgraded powers is clearly superior. However Rax endangers innocent bystanders and waits for Remy to use his energies to save them from falling debris. Now weakened, he is easily defeated by Rax, right as the other Neo arrive. Domina is proud of Rax and wants him to kill his prey, but then the unified guilds of New Orleans enter the scene. Domina announces to spare Gambit’s life and leaves, since it is clear who was victorious, though Rax and Remy know who really was the superior combatant. |
| X-Men (2nd series) #110: | The Neo are again in the abandoned complex in New York as suddenly Magneto arrives. His powers have just been restored and having heard of this secret clan of mutants he wants to add them to his army on Genosha. Magneto orders the Neo to kneel before him, but Domina refuses and orders her minions to kill the master of magnetism. With one gesture he tears the attacking Rax and Salvo apart. Amazed by his might Domina complies and kneels before Magneto. |
Afterwards
- The Neo have not been seen on Genosha, but it seems that were among the many victims of the Sentinels attack during which 16 million people died. [New X-Men #115-116]
- Shadowcat’s status was not fully cleared up. Additionally to Seth thinking her to be a Neo, there was a scene in the X-Men: Declassified one-shot, where a Neo looking very similar to Elysia, (Elysia? Or her mother?) but with different face-paint, pulled a baby-switch scam, leaving a Neo baby to become Shadowcat. Of course, that's all crazed conspiracy theory madness, isn't it? (Note: X-Men Declassified contained data on mutants that was collected by the government, however these were faulty in most cases)
Members
Domina
First appearance: X-Men (2nd series) #99
All appearances: X-Men (2nd series) #99-102, 106, Gambit (3rd series) #22, X-Men (2nd series) #110
Powers: generates shaped energy charges that she can weave into any object she can imagine. As leader of the Warclan, Domina can make use of any of the powers of the other members. It is not yet known if she can use more than one power at the same time, or if the Neo can use their powers while she's using them
Equipment: swords, knives and spears
Facts:
- Domina's parents and child died while the Neo were left powerless by the High Evolutionary and Sinister, leaving her in command of the Neo and with a big grudge against humanity, and against the X-Men after Cecelia Reyes killed her husband Jaeger.
- Domina hunted down and killed Sinister seventeen times. Not that he'll stay dead. She killed Sabretooth at least once, too.
- Domina was still able to make use of Jaeger's powers, even after his death.
- Domina's brother is renegade Neo and slave-trader Ransome Sole.
Jaeger(German word for Hunter, which sometimes is used as an alias)
First appearance: X-Men (2nd series) #99
Last appearance: X-Men (2nd series) #100 (killed by a spike of Cecilia Reyes‘ forcefield)
All appearances: X-Men (2nd series) #99-100
Powers: peak human strength, speed, endurance, reflexes, and extra-human senses that allow him to detect and track traces of spoor and residue from his chosen prey. Jaeger also somehow borrowed some of Domina's power to create an energy-line to swing around on
Equipment: knife, crossbow, guns
Facts:
- Jaeger was Domina's husband and Rax's uncle or father. (X-Men #101 says uncle, #106 says father)
- “Jaeger“ appears to be his title rather than his real name; Rax later made claim to the role of Jaeger.
Kilmer
First appearance: X-Men (2nd series) #100
All appearances: X-Men (2nd series) #100, 102
Powers: unknown (At one point Domina manifested the ability to transform her hands into razor-edged blades of extremely high-density. Possibly this power came from Kilmer.)
Equipment: rifle
Rax
First appearance: X-Men (2nd series) #100
Last appearance: X-Men (2nd series) #110 (killed by Magneto)
All appearances: X-Men (2nd series) #100-101, 106, Gambit (3rd series) #22, X-Men (2nd series) #110
Powers: peak human strength, speed, endurance, reflexes, and extra-human senses that allow him to detect and track traces of spoor and residue from his chosen prey, all of which he gained as the Warclan's Hunter upon Jaeger's death
Equipment: crossbow, knife
Facts: Jaeger was either Rax's uncle or father, and he wished to claim the role of Jaeger. Rax has plotted against Domina in his attempts to undermine her leadership.
Barbican
First appearance: X-Men (2nd series) #100 (if that is him on page 4)
All appearances: X-Men (2nd series) #100, 102 (mentioned), Gambit (3rd series) #22
Powers: structural morphing ability allow him to use his touch to reform materials such as clay, brick, and stone into different shapes and appearances
Facts:
Barbican has only been mentioned, but the name has never been clearly attached to a drawn figure. It’s assumed that the male drawn on page 4 of X-Men (2nd series) #100 and on page 19 of Gambit (3rd series) #22; yet it‘s not known for sure.
Static III
First appearance: X-Men (2nd series) #100
All appearances: X-Men (2nd series) #100, 102 (mentioned), 106
Powers: projects a scrambling field effect that assaults nearby superhumans to disable their special talents or reverse them to backfire on their owners
Equipment: gun
Seth
First appearance: X-Men (2nd series) #100
All appearances: X-Men (2nd series) #100
Powers: generates massive amounts of neurosynaptic energy that fries the nervous systems of others upon contact
Equipment: power armor, enabling him to fly and survive in space; his enhanced strength and toughness could come from the armor, or be a natural power
Facts:
- Seth seems to be one of the first Neo to live amongst humanity, having been sent amongst them to attack and destroy the High Evolutionary's space station.
- Seth loves Shadowcat, and planned to saved her from the destruction of the space station.
- Seth was unaffected by Rogue's touch.
Elysia
First appearance: X-Men (2nd series) #101
All appearances: X-Men (2nd series) #101, 106
Powers: project total sensory illusions that create a false reality around her opponent, conforming to their greatest desires and visions of paradise. It is unknown, if like, Tartarus, these hallucinations can become reality over time
Equipment: big sword
Facts:
- Elysia is one of the younger Neo.
- Elysia's brother is Tartarus.
- Elysia was the first Neo to learn that the X-Men weren't all bad, after they saved her from the AmalgaMonster.
Tartarus
First appearance: X-Men (2nd series) #101
All appearances: X-Men (2nd series) #101
Powers: project total sensory illusions that create a false reality around his opponent, conforming to their greatest fears and mental picture of hell. It appears that if trapped like this for an extended period of time, the hallucinations will become reality
Facts:
- Tartarus is one of the younger Neo.
- Tartarus' sister is Elysia.
- Tartarus was responsible for turning Charlotte Jones and criminal Rufus Delgado into a big scary AmalgaMonster, as their two scenarios interacted.
Salvo II
First appearance: X-Men (2nd series) #101
Last appearance: X-Men (2nd series) #110 (killed by Magneto)
All appearances: X-Men (2nd series) #101-102, 110
Powers: converts his body into a state of liquid bio-metal that he can shape into projectile guns that draw ammunition from his body
Anteus
First appearance: X-Men (2nd series) #102
All appearances: X-Men (2nd series) #102, 106, 110
Powers: feed off the elemental energy of his environment to increase his already impressive size, strength, endurance, and resistance to physical injury; apparently, Anteus can also immunize himself to attacks after being exposed to them previously
Junction
First appearance: X-Men (2nd series) #106
All appearances: X-Men (2nd series) #106
Powers: generates a displacement beam of energy that surrounds her and others nearby to teleport over great distances
Equipment: knife