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 went from starting riots at Xavier’s to teaching the mutants of tomorrow: Kid Omega
For the full Who The Clix? archive, click here. If you think these articles are worth more than $0, click here.
Appearances in Heroclix: Deadpool Weapon X, House of X, Wolverine and the X-Men,
First Appearance: New X-Men #134 (Jan. 2003)
Team Affiliations: Generation X, West Coast Avengers, X-Force
Powers/Abilities: Telepathy Telekinesis, Genius-level intellect Created by: Grant Morrison – Frank Quitely
Quentin Quire joins the Xavier Institute and quickly becomes a star pupil, receiving personal tutoring from Xavier himself. He is close friends with Glob Herman and has a crush on Sophie, of the Cuckoos. This creates tension with the girls, as the others dislike him and claim he has a “see-through” mind.
On Quentin’s birthday, his parents call to tell him that he is adopted, which seems to destabilize the young man. Angry at the world, he gets a haircut reminiscent of a drawing of a “mutant overlord” that Bolivar Trask warned about in the Daily Bugle on the day Quentin was born. This, combined with the recent Genoshan genocide, seems to push Quentin deep into radical thinking aligned more with the late Magneto’s than Xavier’s. Quire debates his teacher about the merits of his “Dream” and whether Xavier would even allow a competing dream to exist.
Quire forms a small gang of like-minded students and together they take the mutant drug Kick. They attack a group of humans and all are reprimanded, except for Quire himself. The newly branded “Omega Gang” attack the U-Men before returning to Xavier’s, attacking the Professor with a baseball bat and locking him in a helmet that stops his powers. On Xavier’s “Open Day,” Quire declares it open season on humans and incites a riot.
The Omegas cause a substantial amount of damage until they are defeated by the X-Men. Xavier frees himself and confronts Quire, deriding his “revolution” as the thing of children. Sophie and the Cuckoos eventually take Kick to boost their powers and then confront Quentin. Quire confesses all of this acting out was to impress Sophie and get her to notice him. The Cuckoo mind calls it gross before blasting him with their full strength. Quentin begs for forgiveness as Emma shows him Sophie’s dead body. The shock of everything is too much for Quentin and he collapses, falling into a catatonic state. While Beast, Xavier and even Xorn try to heal Quire, it’s too late. His overdose of Kick has activated a secondary mutation leading to his mind to becoming pure psionic energy. This pushes Xavier to resign as Headmaster and leave the school to Jean Grey.
When the Phoenix Force returns to Earth, seeking out the Cuckoos, resurrecting Jean Grey and finally possessing Emma Frost, Quire is temporarily able to resurrect himself. He takes Sophie’s body to the Phoenix and asks it to resurrect her so they can be together. When it does, Sophie again tells him he’s gross before returning to the afterlife. Dismayed and overextended, Quire’s mind returns to dormancy.
After the X-Men move to San Francisco to form Utopia, Quire grows “bored” of his higher existence and permanently resurrects himself. He then fashions himself a villain and decides to destroy Utopia, since he believes the X-Men just stole his idea. He is ultimately defeated by the Cuckoos and Martha. Quentin is then broken out a few more times before Wolverine makes a deal with Captain America to keep Quentin in a “work-release” program at the Jean Grey School. Wolverine hopes to rehabilitate the young mutant.
Quentin is a productive member of the team, though he continues to have a rebellious streak. He even attempts to punish Wolverine only for Wolverine to temporarily become a berserker obsessed with killing Quire. However, Quire grows to accept and even like his fellow students over the course of several adventures. He grows to like the school so much that he even infiltrates the Hellfire Academy in an attempt to find out why students are joining it, rather than trying to be a super-villain again. Quire eventually graduates and begins working at the school before speaking with his future Phoenix self. Which leads him to question what he is accomplishing by staying in the school.
Quentin leaves the school to join the Phoenix Corporation and become the new White King of the Hellfire Club. However, when the world is brainwashed and Wolverine is killed, Quire returns to his heroic ways and the school. Quentin eventually joins Kitty Pryde’s school back in New York and helps the mutants there.
Quentin grows frustrated with people and makes a deal with Krakoa to live on it, in the form of a small desert island, in the middle of the ocean. Eventually, Thor seeks Quentin out to gain his help in battling the Shi’ar gods. Quentin helps Thor enter the White Hot Room and enters it himself, negotiating with the Phoenix Force to absorb a small piece of it. After the Shi’ar gods are defeated by Thor, Quentin strikes a deal with the Shi’ar to act as their gods, with his newly earned portion of the Phoenix Force. Quire’s godhood is short lived and he soon returns to Krakoa on Earth. When Jubilee, as a vampire, is nearly killed in sunligh, Quentin sacrifices his piece of the Phoenix Force to resurrect her and cure her of the vampire’s curse.
When the Hawkeyes form a new West Coast Avengers that doubles as a reality show, Quentin is recruited to the team. He also has a brief and awkward romance with Gwenpool. Quentin also appears on Genosha to help battle the Cotati.
Recommended Reading: