Jay Guthrie - Phase 1
This page is about the Phase 1 incarnation of the character. For other uses, see Jay Guthrie (disambiguation).
| Joshua "Jay" Travis Guthrie - Deceased | |
|---|---|
 Portrayed by Trent Ford | |
| Codename: | None |
| Affiliations: | X-Men, Xavier Institute |
| Birthdate: | December 13, 1987 |
| Journal: | Wings |
| Player: | Retired |
He was seething with the desire to kill, to draw blood where the heart pounded. He scanned the clearing briefly, but his real attention remained on Apocalypse. That voice within, he listened to it. Respected it, but controlled by it like the raging waters behind a solid dam. Freedom by blood, it promised. How could he ignore it, the voice, it was ingrained in him, full of seductive alluring temptations that crawled down his spine and rippled through his wings in anticipation. He needed one moment, only one and he watched, lusting for the passionate violence.
After a kidnapping, the eternally romantic Jay Guthrie underwent horrific modifications to his body that forever left him changed. Following a time trying to recover in the mansion, he eventually went to Muir Island after an incident that nearly killed his then-lover, Warren Worthington. He was killed during the Dark Phoenix Saga in 2015.
Contents
Details
Character Journal: x_icarus
Real Name: Joshua "Jay" Travis Guthrie
Codename: Icarus
Aliases: N/A
First Appearance: September 1, 2004
Date of Birth: December 13, 1987
Place of Birth: Whitesburg, Kentucky
Citizenship: American
Relatives: Guthrie Family: Lucinda (mother), Thomas (father - deceased), Sam (older brother), Paige (older sister), Melody (younger sister), Elizabeth (younger sister), Joelle (younger sister), Jebediah (younger brother), Lewis and Meg (younger twins)
Education: High school diploma
Relationship Status: Single, formerly dated Kyle Gibney, Kevin Ford, Mark Sheppard, Shiro Yoshida and Warren Worthington
Occupation: Musician / Bartender at Silver
Biography
Childhood
Joshua Guthrie is the third Guthrie sibling, just about a year younger than Paige. As a young boy he admired both his older brother and older sister, but when he grew up and they left for Xavier's, the fondness quickly grew to resentment and distrust. He felt abandoned, that the responsibility to work in the mines and help their mother raise the family was thrust upon him without him asking for it. When his mutation manifested just five months later, it only served to deepen his bitterness, instead of developing a sense of empathy with Sam and Paige.
Jay realized that he was gay at 13, but given his perception of Kentucky values, kept it a secret. He also developed a taste for music at a young age, and his mother bought him his first guitar after his father died. It became the outlet for all his pent up feelings, although he rarely let anyone listen to the songs he wrote. When he was fifteen, he and his only friend at school, Manuelo, along with his friends James and Zach, formed a rock band, performing at town fairs and the local outdoors restaurant, The View. And that was where Josh met Kevin F. Cabot.
When Jay's wings sprouted from his back in January of 2004, instead of hiding them, Manuelo suggested that he show them off during concerts, and pretend that they were prosthetics. Everyone thought that was really cool, and no one asked any questions. The following spring, Kevin F. went backstage after a performance to introduce himself to Jay, but before he could say anything, saw that his wings were real. Taken aback, Kevin F. could barely speak before his sister Beth found him and dragged him away. Angrily, she explained to him that Jay was a Guthrie and a filthy mutant, while he was a Cabot. Guthrie and Cabots don’t mix.
Jay went into a short bout of mild-depression at learning who Kevin F. was, but could not stop his feelings. Manuelo, tired of hearing his love-sick talk, finally told Jay to go get his boy. So one night he showed up outside Kevin F.’s window, who was arguing with his sister. They shared their first kiss, and snuck out to the pond by the Guthrie farm to make love for the first time.
Their secret Romeo and Juliet-esque relationship lasted until August of 2004, when the Cabot patriarch started growing curious about where Kevin F. was going all the time. So one night, he and Kevin F.'s older brothers followed him in secret. When they saw Kevin F. and Jay kissing passionately by the lake, they jumped out of their hiding place and attacked Jay. One of his brothers held Kevin F. back, while the other two and Mr. Cabot proceeded to attempt to beat Jay to death. Satisfied when he was unconscious, they left him for dead, with Kevin F. crying over his body. Kevin F. was utterly distraught, and he dragged Jay to the nearby lake and drowned them both, feeling that he was unable to live without him. However, that was the moment when Jay's healing factor kicked in. Waking up underneath the water, he swam to shore, taking Kevin F.'s now lifeless body with him. Blaming himself for Kevin F.'s death, he took a wooden stake from a nearby broken sign and tried to kill himself in true Shakespearean fashion. But his healing factor prevented him from dying. Ultimately he gave up and carried Kevin F.'s body home.
Outed as gay and as a mutant, Lucinda decided that her third son could only adapt if exposed to a change of scenery. So, against Jay's deepest wishes, she enrolled him in Xavier's for the 2004-05 academic year and sent him past the Mason-Dixon Line.
Living At The X-Mansion
Arriving in September 2004, Jay's first weeks at the school were not happy ones. Feeling betrayed by his mother, who had sent him away from his beloved family, resentful of Sam and Paige for 'abandoning' the family themselves and still grieving over the loss of Kevin F., Jay was suspicious, brooding and difficult to approach. He began to slowly warm to his suite mates, as he, Forge and Kyle Gibney all arrived within a month of each other, despite initial issues with Kyle caused by their mutations, their very different outlooks on life, and their backgrounds. At one point, these issues led to a physical altercation, with the two being separated by staff. Over time, Jay began to relax, making some inroads with his relationship with his siblings and beginning to accept his mutancy, to the point he even began performing in public again, with a series of gigs in Salem Center and elsewhere.
It was after one of these gigs that history repeated itself for Jay in the worst way possible. Becoming the target for Tommy Jones' hatred of mutants, Jay was again severely beaten, this time almost losing the use of his wings. He saw the beating as some kind of punishment, for being gay or for being a mutant or for being plain dumb, and he refused to disclose to staff what had happened and who was responsible. When Tommy himself appeared at the school, close to death, it was particularly difficult for Jay to deal with, and difficult for those who hadn't known to understand the violence of his reaction. One good thing came of the incident - through the machinations of Catseye, Jay and Kyle found themselves sharing a bed, which led to them beginning a physical relationship, something which deepened as Jay let himself fall in love with the feral.
In April 2006, Jay, Forge and Kyle were attacked by a mutant with the power to change the faces and bodies of others. Turned into the demonic-like 'monster' he believed himself to be as a mutant, Jay was forced to re-examine his personal beliefs and finally began to accept being a mutant. Then in June 2006, Kyle got involved with a fight club and was indiscreet with a groupie - when the news eventually reached Jay, he was distraught. The relationship ended and as graduation approached, Jay questioned his future at the school.
Graduation and After
Upon graduation in July 2006, Jay returned to his mother, whose declining health required Sam to come back to the house now and then to care for her. With pressing encouragement, his mother gave Jay some money and he left for Nashville with his band mates, taking a stab at a brief trial of gigs and music career. Rent was expensive and food was as scarce as getting gigs that were all booked up. And the few times he did perform, the turn out was so poor that their group wasn’t invited back. With so few gigs, the band had to head back home for school.
As for him, he went back to his mother’s house, broke and broken, he had no where else to go. This time, she wouldn’t take no for an answer, wanting to send him back to Xavier’s for writing, music, and business. She was convinced that he just needed a little more schooling, more confidence and then he would be able to lift the music career he so desperately wanted, off the ground. Sam was called back home to help out when Jay’s mother accidentally had a fall down the stairs. Sam was set to ‘sorting things out’ with Jay. It was under Sam’s pressure, joined with his mother's, that Jay went back to the school in October 2007.
He was put into a suite with a new student, Kevin Ford, and both found that they did not like each other at first. Jay thought his roommate was breathtakingly gorgeous but a basket case and Kevin F. thought the same. While both avoided one another, ultimately, they were brought together in a school evacuation, staying with Angel at the house of Bart Jones. It was there that Jay discovered the only part of Kevin F. that was touchable was his lips and Jay gave Kevin F. a kiss. Since that day, an awkward relationship formed, bounding the boys to one another in ways they never thought and growing into something more.
In November, Jay approached Forge, then Scott Summers about trying out for the team. Both seemed wary, yet Jay, searching for direction in his life, insisted that he could do it. As an after thought, he signed up for bartending schooling, to get his license so he could try and apply to a few bars to make some money. By mid January, he tried to patch up things with Tommy Jones, determined that if he was going to join the team, he had to settle scores with old demons.
At the end of January, Jay went on a skiing trip. An avalanche happened on a little town the next day and Xavier’s grads were called in to help with a rescue receiving aid from the Red X team in Whistler. It was there that Jay realized he wasn’t really cut out for the team, but still wanted to explore that side of him. A further interaction between himself, Tommy and a psychotically disturbed Betsy Braddock had Jay liking his initial idea less and less. However, Jay was determined to prove everyone wrong, that he could do something more than be a space filler in the mansion. In a trip to Cuba provided by Garrison and Marie, Jay got shot getting in a cross fire between two groups. He returned to the mansion healed physically but shaken emotionally, resetting old fears and questioning whether or not he had it in him to still join the team.
In April 2008, Jay got a placement at Silver as a bartender which only strained his unsteady relationship with Kevin F.. Kevin F. didn't like Jay as a bartender, worried that Jay would be the target for mutant haters. Not only that, Kevin F. didn't like it that Jay rolled in the door around 4 to 5am four days a week and claimed their relationship nonexistent. Jay tried to salvage their relationship, though the more he tried, it only seemed like he was complaining. He hated that he was constantly needy in and jealousy sprouted at the most inconvenient times. He loved Kevin F., but he hated the way it made him feel. When Kevin F. took Cessily Kincaid to the prom in May 2008, it hurt Jay so badly that it became a sudden eye opener as to how bad the relationship was for him. A talk with Terry helped with his decision to break up with Kevin F. and shortly afterwards, Kevin F. moved out of the suite. Both Kevin F. and Jay decided to have an open relationship and Jay began to explore other people.
After a hard time on a mission for Red X in July 2008, Jay turned to other means to help out the mutant community. He became a volunteer for a drug trial, but it turned sour as it had shut down his healing factor and Jay's powers were being leeched by Dr. Joseph Skrul. With Essex's help, Jay returned to health and to the mansion with a different attitude. He had a new found respect and appreciation for his healing factor.
Apocalypse Now
When Day Zero came crashing down in Manhattan, Jay acted as recon for communications. When Apocalypse fell, due to so many being against him, Jay sat back and watched in horror at the people who he called friends kept attacking Apocalypse long after he had fallen. He felt pity for the man that so many of his kind turned against him and sympathized, almost relating to the mutant despite how many he had killed. Jay related this whole experience back to Tommy and how he was able to forgive Tommy, despite what had been done to him. He brought this point up in his journal, where a few heated discussions took place and a very annoyed and tired Pete Wisdom lectured Jay to grow up and be there for his friends instead of being judgmental. Jay submitted but couldn't shake the feeling that everyone was wrong for what they did.
In later November 2008, Jay was working to catch up in school and got Kyle's help. He also asked for Jean-Paul Beaubier's help in winning back Kevin F., hoping to learn how to cook better so he could rope Kevin F. in for a date on December fifth, a date he never made it to. On November 20, Garrison Kane, Wisdom, Danielle Moonstar and Jay were ambushed by Sabretooth and the Dark Riders, on their way into the city while car pooling. When the X-Men arrived, there was only blood, Garrison's arm, Jay's wings and part of his spine left over. Adrienne Frost discovered that the attack was led by a very disturbed Sabretooth who later mailed the crushed communicators to the mansion, the ones belonging to the group.
For an entire month, the group was thought dead until Apocalypse broke out of his confinement. On January 8th, 2009, the X-Men and X-Force came face to face with the four who were mind-controlled to attack and kill Apocalypse. In the end, it was Jay, with the combined forces of Garrison and Dani, who sliced off Apocalypse's head. The three were released from their mind controls and it was then that Jay saw for the first time all the alterations done to him courtesy of Blaquesmith, who had retrieved the group after the attack from Sabretooth.
Returning to the mansion, Jay got a clean bill of health from Jean and was sent back to his room while being monitored by the telepaths. Catseye came to comfort him but with all the changes in his head, the programming that altered him from being prey to a predator, Jay found he only wanted to kill her. He scared her out of the room before he could do any damage and found a letter from Kevin F., telling Jay that he left the mansion, taking Jay's guitar with him and leaving his sketch book containing three of Jay's red feathers from his wings. In a rage and fury, Jay trashed his room. Catseye got Sam and Jean came as well, where she had to knock Jay out before he could hurt anyone. For several days, he stayed within the confines of medbay, in a closed off room where Forge and Mark Sheppard visited him, but his friends realized that he wasn't the same person as before. In both situations, Jay had to refrain from the impulse to gut his friends until Garrison and Dani formulated a plan that would break down conflicting instincts in Jay, allowing him to react on one instinct (predatory) instead of both (flight and predatory). Because he was still uncomfortable with the majority of residents, Garrison arranged it so that Jay and Dani would room together. Due to rumors, Kevin F. returned to the mansion for a visit with Yvette and had a brief run in with Jay. In another run in, when Kevin F. went to return the guitar Jay's father gave to him, Jay confessed that they were better off as friends because Jay needed time to deal with what happened to him. Kevin F. didn't want to be friends, nor have anything to do with Jay due to the fact that Jay was breaking up with him again, despite the fact that they had not cleared up whether they were an item or not.
In a bid to get Kevin F. to go to Prom in June 2009 to see Yvette, Jay flew to see his ex at the West Coast Annex. It was not well received and resulted in Kevin F. using his recently gained control to wither away Jay's shirt in an attempt to scare him. It enraged Jay that Kevin F. would do that and in a heated moment, he grabbed Kevin F.'s wrist, allowing half his hand to wither away. The pair parted badly. Due to a text, Jean-Paul found Jay in another state and helped him get back to the mansion the next day. Jay recovered within the day but the act had left a lasting impression on Jay, one he wasn't keen on repeating.
Jay asked Shiro to accompany him to Gay Pride Parade and the two slowly hit it off again, picking up something that was similar to a relationship. Jay discovered that Shiro was still dating Kali and the two got into a heated arguement before Shiro said he would break it off. Days later, Shiro was found in the Danger Room by Jay, angry because his breakup had went badly and he blamed Jay for it. The two got into a match which resulted in Shiro losing control of his powers and the Danger Room blowing with the safeties off. Jay was hurt. Garrison found out that Jay had run one of the programs designed for him and locked Jay out of the Danger Room, lecturing Jay that he was drifting and suggested that he join the X-Men. Jay confessed that Red X had benched him, instead using him as a communications guy, that school was pending for January 2010 and that all he had was work. He agreed that nothing was going right and Jay sought out Scott, who was reluctant due to what happened with Shiro and tension climbed before Scott Summers allowed Jay Trainee status. A journal introduction went badly on the team comm as Jay stated that he didn't want a trainee name. His teammates were angered and Garrison emailed Jay, forcing an apology out of the blue mutant to his teammates, who'd all but lost any respect they had for the new trainee.
Inner Demons
In August 2009, Jay went to see Amelia Voght for his trainee check up and Amelia found that he was in good health, except that his healing factor was working to compensate for the exhaustion because Jay hadn't been sleeping for months (a result that explained why the blue mutant was so irritable in the journal posts). She sent him to Charles and there was concluded that Dani was the problem, that she drew out his fears and the two roommates separated due to using each other as crutches.
Following Shiro and Jean-Paul's departures to Muir Island following Shiro's own mental breakdown, Jay continued to struggle with his anger issues, eventually seeking out medical help from Henry McCoy when he almost attacked inquisitive new student Nico Minoru. His lack of control also nearly ended in disaster during a mission, when he ignored orders to directly engage Toad in combat. He fared badly against the Brotherhood of Mutants member and whilst nearly smothering under Toad's adhesive phelgm, Jay discharged his wing darts wildly. He struck teammate Lex, who in turn had been poisoned by Wildside and electrocuted Jay whilst hallucinating. It was not a successful outing.
The return of Warren Worthington to the school proved a turning point for Jay, although he still retained his trademark ability to say the absolutely worst thing at the worst time: his attempt to apologise to Kevin F. for his errors during their relationship degenerated to the point they realised they could never be friends. Warren, however, proved more resilient - and determined - and in January 2010, they began dating. Jay continued to train with the team and maintained his job at Silver, gathering quite the number of fangirls, who couldn't believe the good-looking blue bartender was gay, despite Jay's protests.
All of that came tumbling down in February 2010 when Jay, awakening suddenly from a nightmare, attacked and injured Warren and had to be restrained by John Allerdyce and Lex, who heard the commotion. Unable to reconcile his attack on the man he was dating, Jay left for Muir Island, for intensive therapy. He was killed when the Brotherhood invaded Muir in January 2015.
Physical Characteristics
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 179 lbs.
Eyes: Use to be hazel, now are yellow
Hair: red/dark blond
Other Features: A pair of organic metal wings on his back. His feathers can slip into one another until they disappear into two solid half moons of metal between his shoulder blades. He has an organic metal external spine that starts between the shoulder blades and goes down the length of his back until it disappears into the skin.
His skin is a shade of blue and is rough like sandpaper to the touch.
Blue faded jeans are his choice of pants, not often seen wearing shorts and may have a few holes in them to add to his ‘band’ appearance. He likes to wear beaded necklaces but does not stick to one favourite, switching between many depending on what he is wearing. He had a tattoo at some point but with the manifestation of his healing powers, it disappeared.
Powers
Jay shared an almost identical mutation with Angel. Red birdlike wings sprouted from his back, which he could use to fly. His total wingspan was sixteen feet across, and they were strong enough to allow him to carry two-hundred pounds in addition to his own weight. His entire body is adapted for flight: hollow bones made of a strong but light calcium-like mineral, almost zero body fat, and an extraordinary musculature. He has a special thin but strong membrane over his eyes to protect them from the wind when he flies, and a respiratory system that enables him to extract oxygen even at high altitudes. He was able to fly at heights of up to 10,000 feet with little effort, and a maximum of 29,000 feet, at speeds of up to 120 miles per hour for a few hours before he needed rest.
Jay also had secondary and tertiary mutations. His blood carried a healing factor, which had already proved itself strong enough to revive him after being beaten nearly to death. His last ability, almost trivial compared to the wings and healing factor, was his voice: he could sing multiple harmonies at once, sounding like a one-man choir.
Since Mechanisms of Revenge, Jay underwent modifications that boosted his healing factor so that he would heal in a day and not a week. Ripped from his back in an attack, Jay no longer has a set of red wings, but organic metal wings, similar to Colossus, that react to his subconscious whims and instincts. They are attached to an organic external spine that starts from his neck all the way down to his tail bone, disappearing under the skin. When the wings fold up, all that remains are two halfmoon blades sticking out from each shoulder blade. Each wing produces feathers almost immediately that can be thrust out by one dozen per wing. These feathers hold a paralyzing poison.
Stripped of his flight instinct, Jay's instincts have been reprogrammed to be dominant, predatory and efficient to kill. Aggression has been set into his mindframe and therefore, he has to undergo exhausting training in the dangerroom to release any pent up energy that would otherwise come out on those he interacts with (slowly slipping from a logical stand point to primal driven instincts).
His eyes are now yellow, able to withstand extreme amounts of wind and cold against them. His skin is now blue and feels like sandpaper, able to also withstand extreme cold temperatures. His lungs have been modified to adapt to the low oxygen levels, able to climb higher than he previously could and his speed has increased. He can fly up to Mach 1, though he is not as fast as Jean-Paul Beaubier (Mach 2).
A slight adjustment had been made to his voice box and he can no longer sing. Instead, he screechs a keen in an attack or whenever he gets to a level of high emotional stress. The keen is set at a pitch that he is unable to control, instilling fear on whomever he is attacking.
Equipment
Jay owns two guitars: an acoustic one that his mother bought him after his father's death, and an electric one that Forge built him. He wears various necklaces that he picks up at cheap shops.
External Links
Phase 1
Trivia
Jay has a huge celebrity crush on Billy Joe Armstrong of the band Green Day.
Jay used to hate chicken or any other meat from birds. He found it too close to cannibalism for his tastes, but after Mechanisms of Revenge, Jay found he couldn't get enough of it.
He is very wary around telepaths.
Romeo and Juilet is a favourite of his. He recites it often.
He used to wear a small golden cross on a gold chain that used to belong to Kevin F.. At one point, he wore a pewter pendant of a guitar that was made by Kevin Ford but lost it since the attack in Mechanisms of Revenge.
Jay is a serial monogamist.
He learned from Kurt how to juggle and practiced a lot with the intent to be a flare bartender.
On a cycle of molting feathers from his red wings, Jay use to drop feathers every six months.
Jay has a keen that comes out when he is under high emotional states or closing in on an attack. Because of this keen, Jay hisses when he laughs.
Jay's weight used to be 129 lbs, but because of the organic metal in his body, he now weighs in at 179 lbs, 50 lbs heavier.
Plots
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Mechanisms of Revenge (cont')
Meta
Player: Retired
Player Icon Base: Trent Ford
Meta Trivia
Formerly played by Ben and Andrea (who left the game in February 2010). Phase 2 version apped by Conner in December 2023.
Former PBs: Travis Fimmel, Guillaume Guichard and Barry Watson
Jay was retired during the game relaunch as the deaths of his brother Sam Guthrie and sister Paige Guthrie would have made applying for this version too difficult.
