Leech (comics) - Fictional Character Biography

Fictional Character Biography

The green-skinned Leech was orphaned as a toddler. His parents left him to die when his mutations became apparent. He was found by the Morlock Caliban and taken to a human-looking mutant woman named Annalee who raised him and several other young mutant orphans as her children. He made friends with X-Factor's ward named Artie Maddicks and had a few brief encounters with the X-Men.

During the Mutant Massacre story arc, Mister Sinister rallies his henchmen, the Marauders, to infiltrate the sewers and massacre all the Morlocks living there in an effort to rid the world of "genetically impure" mutants. While many Morlocks are killed, Leech and Caliban survive, rescued by Power Pack and the X-Terminators (X-Factor in their role of mutant hunters). Leech joins Artie in the care of X-Factor until they could be enrolled in St. Simons, a private school that willingly accepts mutant children.

Soon after they began attending this school, Leech and Artie are captured by mutant-hunting demons. Leech's technologically-enhancing mutant friend, Taki Matsuya and an ad-hoc team of mutants, calling themselves the X-Terminators, join with the New Mutants in battling the demonic threat. They adventure through much of New York, witnessing much, such as innocent men being eaten, before the threat is contained.

Leech, Artie, and Taki return to St. Simons, though they do not stay out of trouble. Taki's crush on a teacher leads to uncovering a plot by mutant-hating humans to kidnap and kill as many mutants as possible. The young trio disobey orders and literally fly off. After much violence, the kidnapping plans are discovered and the conspirators arrested. A nearby resident, Ida Fassbender, discovers the trio's technologically assisted jaunts, and her paranoia endangers their lives. She resolves the problem and unofficially becomes the boys' grandmother. Leech is comforted by Ida's resemblance to Annalee.

However, yet another kidnapping plan works successfully and Artie and Leech are taken by the murderous mutant terrorists Gene Nation.

This group was composed of second-generation Morlocks, the descendants of those who survived the massacre in the tunnels. They were born and raised in an alternate dimension with a faster flow of time than this one, called The Hill. They sought revenge for those who wronged their forbears. Gene Nation led a campaign to hunt down and kill as many humans as possible, since it was the humans' unwillingness to accept them that forced their parents into the tunnels in which they were massacred. Leech and Artie wanted no part of this, but were trapped until they were rescued by Generation X. They were thereafter made junior members.