Rack
| Richard Carlisle - deceased | |
|---|---|
 Portrayed by Dennis Waterman | |
| Known Aliases: | Rack |
| Affiliations: | Independent |
| Socked By: | Rossi |
| Introduction: | Daddy's Girl |
Amanda Sefton's 'monster under the bed', she carried the scars of her early life with the black magician well into her adolescence. And when she thought she'd put him behind her, the past came back to haunt her.
Contents
Details
Name: Richard Carlisle (dec)
Aliases: Rack
Affiliation: none
First appearance: April 2004
Family: unknown
Biography
Little is known about the man known as Rack. A powerful black magician, he was in his early fifties when he died, and had been studying magic most of his life. During the mid-Eighties he was somewhat prominent in the darker side of the magical community, with many joining his coven of followers. The secret of his power was a young mutant girl Gemile Svardos, who he had stolen from her Romani family in the guise of a government social worker. Gemile served as his power source and apprentice for the next nine years. When the girl was nine, an aspiring witch by the name of Romany Wisdom joined the coven, becoming one of Rack's inner circle. Two years later, Rack conducted a binding ceremony, intending to magically bind Gemile to him, body and soul. Unfortunately the demon he summoned to assist with the ritual had other plans, and whilst the two battled it out, Romany took the child.
Rack spent two years in prison as a result of child abuse charges laid against him and upon being released he fled to Catemaco, Mexico to avoid the wrath of the magical community and Romany's brother Pete Wisdom. In February 2004 a powerful magical signature drew his attention to Westchester and he made enquiries through a black magic dealer by the name of Patches. Patches revealed the source was a young witch called Amanda Sefton who attended Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and had something of a magic habit. Taking advantage of a field trip to LA, Rack forced Amanda to meet him in Mexico. She brought her friend Angelo Espinosa with her and the pair would have perished if it hadn't been for the timely intervention of Pete and Emma Frost. Pete killed Rack in the ensuing battle.
In November 2004, following the Repodemon attack at Halloween, Amanda summoned Rack's spirit from death in order to perform the unbinding ritual interrupted in Mexico and free herself from his remaining influence. With Nathan acting as her spotter, Rack was defeated a second time and was banished to a hell dimension.
In 2012, the Destines, remnants of Rack's original coven, came to the attention of X-Force during a magical gang war with Taboo and Topaz, which resulted in Taboo's apparent death and the actual death of at least one of the Destines, Domenic. Adam Destine, eldest of the clan, had obviously taken Rack's lessons to heart and knew Amanda on sight.
Powers/Abilities
Black magician. Rack's power was largely borrowed or stolen - he had little of his own, but was able to use that of others for his own gain. He used magic to bring on Amanda's mutation early, plus bind her power to a particular aspect (absorbing the mystical energy in objects, places and people) to avoid her becoming more powerful than he.
Plots
Meta
Socked by: Rossi
PB: Dennis Waterman
A version of Rack existed at one point in Phase 2, raising both Amanda and Adam Destine as his apprentices. Amanda escaped when she was 15 (by being arrested and sent to Muir), but Adam remained with Rack, eventually becoming the leader of the coven after Rack's death.
