Who the Clix? is a series of articles featuring information on comic book characters that have been made into figures for the popular tabletop game Heroclix. These articles are meant to help Heroclix players learn more about the characters behind their favorite pieces.
He just refuses to die. He’s more unkillable than Wolverine or Deadpool. But sadly not as popular. He’s: Darwin
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Appearances in Heroclix: X-Men: Rise and Fall, Xavier’s School
First Appearance: X-Men: Deadly Genesis #2 (February 2006)
Team Affiliantions: X-Factor, X-Men
Created by: Ed Brubaker and Pete Woods
Unlike most mutants, Darwin’s powers activate at an incredibly young age and make him an outcast from his Afro-Hispanic family. Because of the hatred from his mother and community, he is soon shipped off to scientists that mercilessly experiment on him to test the limits of his evolutionary survival mutation. Moira MacTaggert soon discovers the small boy and takes her in as a foster, which brings him to the attention of Charles Xavier.
After the first team of X-Men are lost on Krakoa, Darwin is recruited for the first team to attempt to rescue them. Alongside Kid Vulcan, Petra and Sway, The rescue goes horribly wrong with Sway and Petra both being killed by the living island and their dying actions swallowing Vulcan and Darwin into the ground. In a reflexive act, Darwin is able to copy the powers of his fallen teammates and converts into an energy form, bonding with Vulcan. This results in Vulcan surviving for years in stasis with Darwin’s mind trapped in his subconscious.
When the Phoenix Force awakens Vulcan inside of the remains of Krakoa in space, Darwin is along for the ride as the lost Summers brother attempts to take his revenge on the X-Men. In the midst of the battle with Vulcan, Rachel is able to remove Darwin’s energy from Vulcan. Vulcan escapes into space as Beast transports this living energy form back to the Institute. Under observation, Darwin’s powers recreate a physical form for him, essentially resurrecting him from a seeming death.
Professor X brings Darwin with the Vulcan hunting team of X-Men in hopes that the mutants’ friendship would aid in their retrieval of the mutant. Darwin follows Xavier after his is abducted by Shi’ar agents and attempts to rescue to the professor. However, a living D’Ken reveals himself and the pair are again captured by the Imperium. With great reluctance, Darwin acts as Vulcan’s best man at his wedding to Deathbird. The wedding quickly descends into chaos as the X-Men and Starjammers attack in an attempt to rescue Xavier. Furious, Vulcan attempts to trap Xavier in the M’Kraan crystal only for Darwin to follow the mutant leader in and rescue him. Xavier and Darwin are returned to the X-Men’s ship and sent home to Earth.
When the Hulk returns to Earth from Sakaar to take vengeance on the Illuminati, he rampages to the X-Mansion. Darwin is among those X-Men that attempt to face the Hulk down. At first, his body begins to absorb gamma radiation, thinking that he can simply drain the Hulk of his strength. Unfortunately, the Hulk’s rage and gamma output is too great for Darwin to keep up with. In a strange twist, Darwin’s powers then realize that discretion is the better part of valor and teleports the hero three states away.
Some time later, Darwin goes searching for a missing Professor Xavier and comes across Longshot. The pair try to work together but Longshot is worried his powers are not working correctly. He tests them out and the result is a group attacking the pair. They meet back up only to be attacked by Jazinda and She-Hulk, who reveal that this Longshot is actually a Skrull in disguise.
During this time, Darwin’s father also hires X-Factor Investigations to help him find his son. He explains to them that he feels bad for walking out on him when he was younger and leaving him with an abusive mother. When Darwin and his father are reunited, this is revealed to be a lie and instead, Darwin’s father had sold his son out to the Karma Project. They attempt to duplicate Darwin’s power to no avail.
X-Factor rescues Darwin from the Karma Project and Siryn offers him a place on the team, which he accepts. He aids the team on a mission for Valeria and Franklin Richards as well as facing down Hela herself by becoming a death god. After the battle is won, the experience has a profound impact on Darwin and leads to him leaving the team for a time. He returns to the team only to be plagued by voices, warning him that Rahne’s son Tier will herald an apocalypse. Driven near mad, he tries several times to kill the young wolf boy only to be stopped time and time again.
Darwin is among the heroes that accept the invitation to live on the new island nation of Krakoa. Soon after arriving there, Darwin, Laura Kinney and Synch are chosen for a special mission to a Children of the Vault base inside a Master Mold. The three are chosen for their unique life saving powers and redundancy. The trio survived inside for 537 years, while only a few months passed in the real world. Their mission was both a failure and success. While they were able to retrieve important information about the Children of the Vault, the World was able to duplicate Darwin’s powers and create even more powerful living weapons.
Synch was the only one able to resurrect with a full memory of what happened inside the Vault. Both Laura and Darwin are resurrected with their memories from before the Vault, meaning neither has memories of the centuries they lived and bonded.