The Preservers
| The Preservers | |
|---|---|
 Portrayed by None | |
| Known Aliases: | Various |
| Affiliations: | Independent - pro-mutant |
| Socked By: | Alicia |
| Introduction: | Kaiten |
The Preservers are a mutant supremacist group who announced themselves with a series of coordinated suicide bombings on targets they believed promoted the peaceful cooexistence of mutants and baseline humans. Though many of their members have been taken into custody due to the efforts of the X-Men, the group is still out there and still a continuing danger.
First Appearance
Known Members
- Kushini Jinasena (deceased) - Jinasena was Sri Lankan, a mutant with the ability to accelerate the metabolism of certain types of mutants (specifically, energy-projectors) to the point where they became walking bombs. He may or may not have originated the Preserver tactic of suicide bombing.
- Benedict Devlin - Devlin was a projective empath, and the senior Preserver in New York. He specialized in recruitment. Currently in government custody.
- Ash - a young pyrokinetic being groomed for a leadership role. Was in government custody, escaped during X-Men Mission: Jailbreak.
- Frost - a cryokinetic and one of Ash's gang of 'Junior Preservers'. Escaped during X-Men Mission: Jailbreak and was recaptured. Currently in the Vault.
- Rowan - a telekinetic and another Junior Preserver. Known by her real name, Rebecca, to Tommy Jones from his days as a FoH activist. Was in government custody, escaped during X-Men Mission: Jailbreak.
- Seabourn - a Junior Preserver with a sonic mutation. Was in government custody, escaped during X-Men Mission: Jailbreak.
- Rust - a Junior Preserver with the touch-based ability to make metal rust. Escaped during X-Men Mission: Jailbreak and was recaptured. Currently in the Vault.
- Paul Traore (deceased) - a young Frenchman and energy-projector who was turned into a walking bomb by Jinasena, but captured before he could reach his target (the UN during a conference on the aftermath of Smichov). He died at a federal facility after being telepathically scanned by Jean Grey.
Details
Very little is known about the origin of the Preservers. They are militantly pro-mutant, believing that baseline humans are insects and any organization/individual promoting genetic integration needs to be wiped out (especially if they're mutants, as in that case they're race traitors). Initially, they recruited young mutants, conditioning them to believe that their 'minor' powers made them unfit and that by undergoing a process of transformation at Jinasena's hands that would turn them into living weapons, they could redeem themselves and serve a greater purpose.
They used several of these young mutants to attack mutant-friendly targets in February 2007, including the Elpis office in Tel Aviv, as well as targets in Paris, Budapest, and Bern. This led to a concentrated manhunt by law enforcement and intelligence agencies in numerous countries; the US was the most successful, and provided information to the X-Men that allowed them to capture most members of a Preserver cell in Portugal. One X-Man in particular, Angelo Espinosa, would be instrumental in helping take down a Preserver cell in New York, getting his hands on information that allowed the X-Men to assault a major Preserver installation in Mexico, taking many prisoners. Jinasena was their biggest prize, but he died while reversing the bombmaking process with Scott Summers, in whom he'd initiated it during the mission in Portugal.
The organization was dealt a significant blow and withdrew from active operations to regroup. The next major operation was launched by the European branch of the organization, as they struck at a new university program for telepaths and the Hungarian parliament building in Budapest. It was a disastrous operation for the Preservers, with many of their European members taken into custody. The nature of their connection to Tara Trask remains a mystery.
In November 2009 during the country's biggest ever mass escape, Ash, Rowan, Rust, Seabourn and Frost escaped. They were located by a team of X-Men and Rust and Frost were recaptured, but the other three Young Preservers remain at large.
Plots
Meta
Socked by:
X-Men Mission: Jailbreak: Frito - Frost and Rowan, Rossi - Seabourn and Rust, Seraph - Ash
