Morlocks

This page is about the Phase 2 incarnation of the NPCs. For other uses, see Morlocks (disambiguation).

PHASE 2

The Morlocks
Portrayed by N/A
Known Aliases:	Callisto, Artie Maddicks
Affiliations:	Independent
Socked By:	Various
Introduction:	January 2015

The Morlocks are a group of homeless mutants, numbering around fifty, who form a tightly-knit community, living in the sewers beneath New York.

Roster

Morlocks

Callisto	While comparatively young to be a leader, Callisto has proven her place with her level-headedness and dedication to protecting her people. Enhanced speed, strength and senses. See her individual page for details. PB: Shannyn Sossamon, played by Morag
Sunder	Large and imposing, with thick, brutish features, Sunder is actually extremely intelligent and insightful. He has served Callisto as her second for many years. Enhanced size, strength and partial invulnerability. PB: Ron Perlman, socked by Rossi
Healer	A member of the "Dwellers in the Darkness", Healer is one of the elders of the Morlocks and seen as the spiritual heart of the group. An old, frail-looking man, who advocates peaceful means and hiding deeper in the tunnels when threatened. Ability to heal wounds and injuries, although his power does not work on himself. Killed by the Sapien League in X-Men Mission: Fall of the Mutants. PB: None, socked by Erin.
Ape	Shapeshifter, can mimic objects and stretch himself like elastic. PB: Doug Hutchison, socked by Erin.
Tar-Baby	A native New Yorker, whose skin has the appearance, texture and adhesiveness of tar. PB: Jonathan Breck, socked by Rossi.
Erg	A painter before his powers grew uncontrollable, Erg is an electrokinetic, able to absorb energy and convert it into electrical blasts from his left eye. PB: Mackenzie Crook, socked by Zippit.
Pester	Small and almost child-like in appearance, Pester has superhuman speed and fangs and can communicate with rats, like her mother, Mother Inferior. PB: Amy Masston, socked by Sam.

• Mole - deceased; a small mutant with mole like features, killed by Sabretooth in Case File: A Better Mole Trap

• Piper - deceased; another victim of Sabretooth, not much is known beyond he was a busker and a Morlock as identified by Callisto.

• Chickenwing - deceased; another victim of Sabretooth, not much is known beyond she was a Morlock as identified by Callisto.

• Mother Inferior - another older Morlock, with the ability to speak to rats, Mother Inferior is loyal to Callisto and serves as a means of information gathering.

• Tommy - a young girl with the ability to become two-dimensional, a talent which saves her from being taken by the Sapien League and allows her to raise the alarm.

Tunnelers

Berserker	The leader of the radical group known as the Tunnelers, Berserker advocates fighting threats, regardless of the cost. Ability to absorb certain EM fields to generate and control bolts of electricity. PB: Gary Beadle, socked by Dex
Scaleface	Scaleface's powers allow her to transform into a giant, dragon-like reptile with superhuman strength and stamina. PB: Jane Badler (from V), socked by Zoila.
Cybelle	Cybelle's powers allow her to secrete a fast-acting acidic sweat from her pores. This mist dissolves any form of matter it comes into contact with, including solid stone. PB: Gig Edgeley (from Farscape), socked by Chris.
Fever Pitch	With the manifestation of his powers Fever Pitch was reduced to a flaming skeleton. He is capable of extending that biological flame outwards as intense heat, explosive blasts, or use it for flight. PB: Stock Image, socked by Frito.
Litterbug	Former soldier who went AWOL upon his transformation into a giant, cockroach-like creature with massive strength, invulnerability, and a keen burrowing ability. He has difficulty speaking in this form. PB: Judas Breed from Mimic, socked by Jeff.

Details

The Morlocks are a society of mutants who inhabit New York City's underground. They live primarily in a warren of underground tunnels and abandoned spaces they call the 'Morlock Tunnels'. The tunnels extend from ChinaTown in the south, to almost 50th street in the north. There are rumours that at least two forgotten tunnels under the East River are connected to them. The Morlock tunnels have formed over time out of a number of forgotten constructions, many of them either old infrastructure, illegal roadways or formerly hidden military projects. Because of that, mapping the Tunnels is virtually impossible and even the most traveled Morlock doesn't know their full extent. The Morlock Tunnels are only used to describe 'dead' underground structures; ones that original use is long gone. However, they intersect regularly with Manhattan's 'live underground', including the existing subway system, sewer and utility tunnels as well as maintenance access. The Morlocks have spent significant time concealing access to their tunnels from outsiders, using fake walls and access-ways, false cave-ins, flooded tunnels and even vermin pools to dissuade would be explorers from getting too far.

The main Morlock encampment is a former groundwater shaft that was built connected to New York Water Tunnel #1 in 1910. In 1940, a series of basements were walled off and extended as a secret military research facility. However, after three years, building stopped as the threat of invasion disappeared, and the rooms were sealed off. The main building was demolished in the 1950s and covered by low-rise commercial and light industrial before being pulled down and turned into Imagination Playground Park. The honeycomb of underground rooms have pirated electricity and fresh water, although it suffers constant dampness from the shaft and has no heat. The rooms are communal, although some Morlocks have occupied the same space for decades and have earned the right to treat the space as their own. There is a small locked room where the emergency supplies and funds are kept against disaster and has been used in times of fire, flooding or other situations which have forced the Morlocks to temporarily abandon their home.

The north end of the shaft is an area referred to as the Hill. It is a two and a half underground building that was built to house pumping controls but was never finished. Over the years, it has become a temple of sorts where elder trusted Morlocks withdraw, calling themselves Those Who Dwell In Darkness. They formally renounce the upworld and house extensive knowledge of the underworld tunnels and manipulating the hydro systems for their own use. It is not looked at as a religious order or cult as of yet, but the members are deeply respected and they do much of the teaching for young Morlocks.

Most Morlocks have a spot in the community as well as their own personal boltholes and resting spots. However, there is a faction of mostly younger Morlocks who have rejected the central space, instead committing themselves to delve into the edges of the underground systems, discovering new spaces and resources. They have been successful to an extent, but their willingness to use the tunnels to access and directly steal from businesses is a major divide, as the Dwellers believe it will draw attention to their existence and potentially give the upworld an excuse to look for them.

Morlocks survive through a combination of begging, illegal labour and petty crime to survive. Depending on the strength of their leader at the time, they are either well organized and share their resources as a community or become fractured with the weaker being subjugated by the strong. Fortunately, the few times a more tyrannical mutant has seized power, events have conspired to ruin them. Some Morlocks advocate a more militant approach to power, blaming the Upworlders for their existence and calling for a use of force to earn respect. They call themselves Tunnelers, although they have few followers. Most Morlocks dislike and resent Upworlders, but they aren't murderous or willing to support open violence.

In late 2015-early 2016, however, the Morlocks found themselves under attack. It began with the individual slayings of several of their number, which was traced back to a mutant mercenary known as Sabretooth. Then came the mass attacks by humans in uniforms thought to be police or FBI. Callisto was able to prevent a counter-attack by the Tunnelers, but when Healer was slain, she led a group to attempt a rescue of others who had been taken... and extract revenge. They were stopped by the X-Men, but found themselves fighting on the same side when the Sapien League turned the tables. The X-Men promised to find out who was behind the attacks, leading to a raid on a medical center which was performing research on mutant organs harvested from the Morlocks. Callisto, however, was unable to calm the more radical members of the Morlocks, leading to an attempted bombing at Penn Station, which she and members of X-Force were able to prevent.

Callisto's leadership remains in doubt - it is one of the most sacred rules that Morlocks don't fight against their own, especially siding with Upworlders.

Plots

Case File: A Better Mole Trap

X-Men Mission: Fall of the Mutants

Operation: Mutant Massacre

Meta

Socked by: Various

The PBs for the Morlocks were chosen for several "Easter Egg" reasons:

Pester - image chosen from Amy Masston's role as Anasthesia the Rat-Speaker in Neverwhere.

Tar Baby - image chosen from Jonathan Breck's role (and impressive makeup) from his role as the Creeper in Jeepers Creepers.

Ape - image chosen from Doug Hutchison's role as the shape-shifting mutant Tooms in The X-Files.

Erg - image chosen from Mackenzie Crook's role as the sensitive one-eyed pirate Ragetti in Pirates of the Carribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.

Litterbug - the PB was chosen from the horror movie Mimic, which is about giant mutant cockroaches in the sewers of New York.

Berserker - image chosen from Gary Beadle's role in The Sarah Jane Adventures episode "Mark of the Berserker".