Donald Pierce
Encyclopedia
Donald Pierce is a comic book
supervillain
in the Marvel Comics
universe. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men
#132. He was created by Chris Claremont
and John Byrne. Donald Pierce is a cyborg
.
. Pierce first appeared as a high ranking member of the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club
, where he held the position of White Bishop, during that organization's first direct encounter with the X-Men. During this conflict, Pierce battled Wolverine
, Nightcrawler
, and Colossus
, alongside Mastermind
and the Inner Circle. When Wolverine nearly severed his arm it was discovered that he was a cyborg, and he was then defeated by Colossus. The Hellfire Club inner circle was eventually defeated and Donald Pierce fled with Sebastian Shaw down a hidden corridor of their headquarters. As it turned out, Pierce was a raving, anti-mutant bigot. That hatred motivated him to act independently to kill mutants, working with three cybernetically-enhanced mercenaries (Cole, Macon, and Reese) who had been critically wounded by Wolverine during that first Hellfire club skirmish. Pierce was the CEO and principal shareholder of Pierce-Consolidated Mining, and was operating out of a mining and laboratory complex in Cameron, Kentucky. Pierce and the cyborg mercenaries kidnapped Professor X
avier and Tessa
in a revenge plot against the Hellfire Club and X-Men, but were defeated by the New Mutants
. Pierce was returned by Tessa to the Hellfire Club, and expelled from the Inner Circle.
and Cole, Macon, and Reese. All five characters were consumed by their desire for revenge against the X-Men and Wolverine in particular. To that end Pierce created an army of cyborgs out of low-life thugs and a few mercenaries. He named his army "The Reavers
".
After rescuing the kidnapped banker Tyger Tiger
from the Reavers, the X-Men expelled the cyborgs from their Australian outback headquarters, and appropriated the base for themselves (although Pierce was not present during this encounter, and had not yet been revealed as the Reavers' creator). The surviving Reavers set out to defeat the X-Men, mounting a return to their old headquarters, this time with Pierce and Deathstrike, along with Cole, Macon, and Reese present, but after the X-Men had escaped through the Siege Perilous
, they managed to capture only Wolverine, whom they tortured and crucified
. Wolverine subsequently escaped with Jubilee, and Pierce attempted to track them. Assuming they fled to Muir Island
, Pierce and the Reavers attacked Muir Island, and battled Moira MacTaggart's "Muir Island X-Men" and Freedom Force
. With the Reavers, he also attacked a Frost Technologies plant in California. At one point Pierce created two super intelligent sentient androids (Elsie-Dee
and Albert
), which he sent to kill Wolverine, but they developed ethics and turned on Pierce and abandoned the Reavers.
A few years later a member of the Upstarts
, Trevor Fitzroy
, sent reprogrammed Sentinels
to destroy the Reavers, as they were a threat to mutants and Pierce (as the former White King) was worth a lot of "points" in the deadly game the Upstarts played. Only Lady Deathstrike and Cylla escaped and it appeared that Pierce had been destroyed. Pierce attempted to escape to the Hellfire Club Mansion in New York City, but the Sentinels followed him there and electrocuted him. The other Reavers were completely annihilated. Despite his seeming demise, he later resurfaced and troubled the X-Men once more. He started an anti-mutant hate group and enlisted several members. He revealed a plot to take militant terrorist actions against mutants and was thwarted by the X-Men. He was beaten by Wolverine in hand-to-hand combat even though he is several times stronger than Logan. It was revealed that very little (if any) of Pierce's human tissue remains, which explains how he was able to survive the massacre in Australia with only his head and portions of his upper torso intact.
's new Hellfire Club, launching an attack and slashing Shaw's chest. Though Shaw was left critically injured and later needed to be hospitalized, he was able to punch off Pierce's head. Pierce appears to have survived though, as he would later appear in the third issue of the second X-Force
series, having been forcibly recruited into the ranks of the Purifiers
and infected with the Technarch transmode virus. Being under the control of the mutant-hunting robot Bastion
, he shows his mutant target, the newly formed Young X-Men
.
, battling a not yet formed team of X-Men
and killing one of their number. It would later be revealed that Pierce himself recruited this team using an image inducer to pose as the leader of the X-Men, Cyclops
. His reasons for recruiting these mutants as "X-Men" are not entirely clear, however, it appears that his primary focus is to eliminate the current Lord Imperial of the Hellfire Club, Roberto da Costa
, and his former New Mutants
allies. He also hired Ink
to deliver Dani and Blindfold to him, misleading him. Following the confrontation with the Young X-Men, his face is scoured by Dust
.
With the synthetic skin on his face restored, he is kept captive by the Young X-Men. Ink's presence on the team is debated due to his connections with Pierce, though Cannonball
expresses sympathy for Ink as he himself was originally lead astray by Pierce when he was a teenager. Ink is allowed to stay on the team and despite contention from Rockslide
, later apologizes to Blindfold for working for Pierce, who remains in X-Men captivity. Pierce and Dust have frequent conversations while he is imprisoned, despite his vocal hatred of mutants and derogatory remarks toward her faith in Islam
, noting that his attitude reminds her of home. While they talk, Dust admits to Pierce that she is dying, as he is "the only one who won't care" and he agrees to share with her the secret information he has about her teammates. He tells her that Ink is the mystery "non-mutant" among them, which is later discovered by the rest of the team. Also, he subtly tells her that three of her friends will die soon, referring to Boom Boom
, Hellion and Surge
, who were captured by the Sapien League and injected with a strain of the Legacy Virus
.
Later after receiving the green light from Bastion to proceed with their plan, Pierce provokes an explosion that decimates all the X-Men's jets and the Blackbirds. Pierce stands amid the debris, and muses to the X-Men that he is sorry that he will not live to witness the decimation of the mutant race. Pierce was perfectly right as Cyclops quickly eliminates him with an optic blast, and alerts the X-Men to expect an attack.
into a cyborg computer brain. As a member of the Reavers, he wore body armor.
Aside from his physical advantages, Donald Pierce is a genius in robotics, cybernetics, and electronics. In these fields he has developed technology that exceeds that of conventional science by approximately two centuries. He also has vast financial resources (a prerequisite for membership in the Hellfire Club). He is a college graduate in geological engineering and business administration, and is an accomplished strategist and business administrator. He is a fair hand-to-hand combatant, but relied on his cyborg strength.
, Pierce was the leader of the Reavers, a band of human assassins enhanced by Apocalypse's techno-organic virus. Thanks to the virus, Pierce had regenerative abilities and the power to assimilate both organic and non-organic material to mutate himself. Pierce infiltrated the territory of the Human High Council in an attempt to destroy the Council fleet and later attempted to kill Gateway
, an ally of the HHC. After the fleet was assembled for an attack on Apocalypse
's empire, Pierce infected Carol Danvers with the remains of the Reaver Vultura to aid him in the destruction of the fleet. During his attack he also used Brian Braddock, who was under Apocalypse's mind control, to kill Emma Frost, though he resisted Pierce's orders, for which Pierce killed him. In the end, Pierce was killed by Weapon X
.
Pierce was however rebuilt by a human team known only as X-Terminators.
, Donald Pierce was a member of the Human Liberation Front, one of the many human resistance groups labeled as terrorists by the House of M
. Alongside Seiji Ashida, the father of Surge
, he was part of the HLF's base in Tokyo, which had targeted Project Genesis, a plan of Emperor Sunfire to forcefully mutate baseline humans.
Universe yet; however, fans have noted the numerous similarities between Pierce and Ultimate Deadpool. In this incarnation, Deadpool is a mutant-hating cyborg who leads the Reavers, kidnapping Spider-Man
and the X-Men
to hunt for sport on Krakoa
Island.
. The last name comes from Sutherland's character from the 1970 movie M*A*S*H
, Hawkeye Pierce.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
in the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
universe. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men, first published as The X-Men, is the flagship Marvel Comics comic book series for the X-Men franchise. It is the mainstream continuity featuring the adventures of the eponymous group of mutant superheroes...
#132. He was created by Chris Claremont
Chris Claremont
Chris Claremont is an award-winning American comic book writer and novelist, known for his 17-year stint on Uncanny X-Men, far longer than any other writer, during which he is credited with developing strong female characters, and with introducing complex literary themes into superhero...
and John Byrne. Donald Pierce is a cyborg
Cyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
.
Fictional character biography
Donald Pierce was born in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. Pierce first appeared as a high ranking member of the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club
Hellfire Club (comics)
The Hellfire Club is a fictional society within the Marvel Comics Universe that often comes into confrontation with the mutant superhero team, the X-Men...
, where he held the position of White Bishop, during that organization's first direct encounter with the X-Men. During this conflict, Pierce battled Wolverine
Wolverine (comics)
Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...
, Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler (comics)
Nightcrawler is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Universe. He has been associated with both the X-Men and Excalibur, originally appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, he debuted in Giant-Size X-Men #1...
, and Colossus
Colossus (comics)
Colossus is a fictional character, a superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer Len Wein and illustrator Dave Cockrum, he first appeared in Giant-Size X-Men #1...
, alongside Mastermind
Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde)
Mastermind is a Marvel Comics supervillain, an adversary of the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, he first appeared in X-Men #4 . He was given his "real name", Jason Wyngarde, by Chris Claremont and John Byrne.The original Mastermind was a mutant with the power to...
and the Inner Circle. When Wolverine nearly severed his arm it was discovered that he was a cyborg, and he was then defeated by Colossus. The Hellfire Club inner circle was eventually defeated and Donald Pierce fled with Sebastian Shaw down a hidden corridor of their headquarters. As it turned out, Pierce was a raving, anti-mutant bigot. That hatred motivated him to act independently to kill mutants, working with three cybernetically-enhanced mercenaries (Cole, Macon, and Reese) who had been critically wounded by Wolverine during that first Hellfire club skirmish. Pierce was the CEO and principal shareholder of Pierce-Consolidated Mining, and was operating out of a mining and laboratory complex in Cameron, Kentucky. Pierce and the cyborg mercenaries kidnapped Professor X
Professor X
Professor Charles Francis Xavier, also known as Professor X, is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero known as the leader and founder of the X-Men....
avier and Tessa
Sage (comics)
Sage, also known as Tessa, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. She has most often been associated with the X-Men and the Hellfire Club, whom she spied upon for Professor Charles Xavier....
in a revenge plot against the Hellfire Club and X-Men, but were defeated by the New Mutants
New Mutants
The New Mutants are a group of teenaged mutant superheroes-in-training published by Marvel Comics. They have been the main characters of three successive comic book series, which were spin-offs of the popular X-Men franchise....
. Pierce was returned by Tessa to the Hellfire Club, and expelled from the Inner Circle.
The Reavers
Later, he resurfaced as a professional criminal and terrorist with Lady DeathstrikeLady Deathstrike
Lady Deathstrike , occasionally spelled "Deathstryke", is a Marvel Comics supervillain, a foe of the X-Men, especially Wolverine.Her father Lord Dark Wind created the adamantium-bonding process that was forced on Wolverine...
and Cole, Macon, and Reese. All five characters were consumed by their desire for revenge against the X-Men and Wolverine in particular. To that end Pierce created an army of cyborgs out of low-life thugs and a few mercenaries. He named his army "The Reavers
Reavers (comics)
In the fictional Marvel Comics universe the Reavers are a team of criminal cyborgs. The most significant team of Reavers were dedicated to the destruction of the mutant X-Men, and a number of them especially wanted to take revenge on one particular X-Man, Wolverine. The name was originally used by...
".
After rescuing the kidnapped banker Tyger Tiger
Jessan Hoan
Tyger Tiger is a fictional character most often appearing in Wolverine stories in the Marvel Comics universe. She is a former banker turned crime lord.-Fictional character biography:...
from the Reavers, the X-Men expelled the cyborgs from their Australian outback headquarters, and appropriated the base for themselves (although Pierce was not present during this encounter, and had not yet been revealed as the Reavers' creator). The surviving Reavers set out to defeat the X-Men, mounting a return to their old headquarters, this time with Pierce and Deathstrike, along with Cole, Macon, and Reese present, but after the X-Men had escaped through the Siege Perilous
Siege Perilous (comics)
Siege Perilous is the name of two fictional devices appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. The first appeared in books starring Captain Britain, and the second in books featuring the X-Men...
, they managed to capture only Wolverine, whom they tortured and crucified
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
. Wolverine subsequently escaped with Jubilee, and Pierce attempted to track them. Assuming they fled to Muir Island
Muir Island
Muir Island is a small, fictional island off the northern coast of Scotland in the Marvel Comics universe. It plays a prominent role in the X-Men comics and its related series.-History:...
, Pierce and the Reavers attacked Muir Island, and battled Moira MacTaggart's "Muir Island X-Men" and Freedom Force
Freedom Force (comics)
Freedom Force is the name of two teams within Marvel Comics' universe.The original was a supervillain team, though they occasionally acted in a heroic capacity as well. It was a government-sponsored team originally composed mainly of Mystique's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants...
. With the Reavers, he also attacked a Frost Technologies plant in California. At one point Pierce created two super intelligent sentient androids (Elsie-Dee
Elsie-Dee
Elsie-Dee is a fictional character appearing in Marvel Comics, and an ally of Wolverine. The character first appeared in Wolverine Vol. 2, Issue 37 in an inanimate state suspended in tank of gelatin. Elsie-Dee is a sentient automaton or android...
and Albert
Albert (comics)
Albert is a fictional character appearing in Marvel Comics, and an ally of Wolverine. The character first appeared in Wolverine vol. 1 #37 suspended in a tank of liquid. Albert is a sapient automaton or android.-Fictional character biography:...
), which he sent to kill Wolverine, but they developed ethics and turned on Pierce and abandoned the Reavers.
A few years later a member of the Upstarts
Upstarts (comics)
The Upstarts were a group of fictional comic book supervillains in the Marvel Comics with strong ties to the Hellfire Club. They first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #281 and were created by Jim Lee and Whilce Portacio.-Fictional team biography:...
, Trevor Fitzroy
Trevor Fitzroy
Trevor Fitzroy is a Marvel Comics supervillain, an enemy of the X-Men, in particular Bishop. Created by Jim Lee and Whilce Portacio, he first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #281 .Fitzroy hails from the same dystopian future as Bishop...
, sent reprogrammed Sentinels
Sentinel (comics)
Sentinels are a fictional variety of mutant-hunting robots, appearing in the Marvel Comics Universe. They are usually portrayed as antagonists to the X-Men. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, they first appeared in The X-Men #14 .According to Marvel canon, Sentinels are programmed to locate...
to destroy the Reavers, as they were a threat to mutants and Pierce (as the former White King) was worth a lot of "points" in the deadly game the Upstarts played. Only Lady Deathstrike and Cylla escaped and it appeared that Pierce had been destroyed. Pierce attempted to escape to the Hellfire Club Mansion in New York City, but the Sentinels followed him there and electrocuted him. The other Reavers were completely annihilated. Despite his seeming demise, he later resurfaced and troubled the X-Men once more. He started an anti-mutant hate group and enlisted several members. He revealed a plot to take militant terrorist actions against mutants and was thwarted by the X-Men. He was beaten by Wolverine in hand-to-hand combat even though he is several times stronger than Logan. It was revealed that very little (if any) of Pierce's human tissue remains, which explains how he was able to survive the massacre in Australia with only his head and portions of his upper torso intact.
Becoming a Purifier
Pierce next tried to take over Sebastian ShawSebastian Shaw (comics)
Sebastian Hiram Shaw is a fictional comic book supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe, and an adversary of the X-Men.A mutant, Shaw possesses the ability to absorb energy and transform it into raw strength...
's new Hellfire Club, launching an attack and slashing Shaw's chest. Though Shaw was left critically injured and later needed to be hospitalized, he was able to punch off Pierce's head. Pierce appears to have survived though, as he would later appear in the third issue of the second X-Force
X-Force
X-Force is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero team, one of several spin-offs of the popular X-Men franchise. Conceived by writer/illustrator Rob Liefeld, the team was formed in New Mutants, vol. 1 #100 and soon afterwards was featured in its own series.The group was a new incarnation of the 1980s...
series, having been forcibly recruited into the ranks of the Purifiers
Purifiers
The Purifiers, also known as the Stryker Crusade, are a fictional paramilitary/terrorist organization in the Marvel Comics universe and enemies of the X-Men...
and infected with the Technarch transmode virus. Being under the control of the mutant-hunting robot Bastion
Bastion (comics)
Bastion is a supervillain that appears in the fictional Marvel Universe. The character was created by Scott Lobdell and Pascual Ferry and first made a cameo appearance in X-Men #52 . His first full appearance was Uncanny X-Men #333...
, he shows his mutant target, the newly formed Young X-Men
Young X-Men
Young X-Men was a comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It lasted for 12 issues, from April 2008 through March 2009. The series was written by Marc Guggenheim.-Final Genesis :...
.
Young X-Men
He appeared in a nightmare of the precognitive mutant, BlindfoldBlindfold (comics)
Blindfold is a fictional character, a mutant and a member of the student body of the Xavier Institute in Marvel Comics' X-Men-related comic books. She first appeared in Astonishing X-Men, vol. 3 #7 and was created by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday.-Fictional character biography:Blindfold is a...
, battling a not yet formed team of X-Men
Young X-Men
Young X-Men was a comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It lasted for 12 issues, from April 2008 through March 2009. The series was written by Marc Guggenheim.-Final Genesis :...
and killing one of their number. It would later be revealed that Pierce himself recruited this team using an image inducer to pose as the leader of the X-Men, Cyclops
Cyclops (comics)
Cyclops is a fictional character, the leader of the X-Men superhero team in the . A mutant, Cyclops emits a powerful energy beam from his eyes...
. His reasons for recruiting these mutants as "X-Men" are not entirely clear, however, it appears that his primary focus is to eliminate the current Lord Imperial of the Hellfire Club, Roberto da Costa
Sunspot (comics)
Sunspot is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero most commonly associated with X-Men-related groups the New Mutants and X-Force....
, and his former New Mutants
New Mutants
The New Mutants are a group of teenaged mutant superheroes-in-training published by Marvel Comics. They have been the main characters of three successive comic book series, which were spin-offs of the popular X-Men franchise....
allies. He also hired Ink
Ink (comics)
Ink is a comic book character, a superhero in Marvel Comics' main shared universe. Created by writer Marc Guggenheim and artist Yanick Paquette, he first appeared in Young X-Men #1.-Divided We Stand:...
to deliver Dani and Blindfold to him, misleading him. Following the confrontation with the Young X-Men, his face is scoured by Dust
Dust (comics)
Dust , is a fictional character in Marvel Comics' X-Men-related comic books. She was created by author Grant Morrison and artist Ethan Van Sciver in New X-Men #133 , although her character was not fully developed until the New X-Men: Academy X series written by Christina Weir and Nunzio DeFilippis...
.
With the synthetic skin on his face restored, he is kept captive by the Young X-Men. Ink's presence on the team is debated due to his connections with Pierce, though Cannonball
Cannonball (comics)
Cannonball is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero, associated with the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Bob McLeod, Cannonball first appeared in Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants ....
expresses sympathy for Ink as he himself was originally lead astray by Pierce when he was a teenager. Ink is allowed to stay on the team and despite contention from Rockslide
Rockslide (comics)
Rockslide is a fictional character, a mutant superhero and member of the X-Men in the . He is a student in the Xavier Institute and a member of the former Hellions squad therein. After M-Day, he was one of only 27 students to retain his powers. He is best friends with Julian Keller and is...
, later apologizes to Blindfold for working for Pierce, who remains in X-Men captivity. Pierce and Dust have frequent conversations while he is imprisoned, despite his vocal hatred of mutants and derogatory remarks toward her faith in Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, noting that his attitude reminds her of home. While they talk, Dust admits to Pierce that she is dying, as he is "the only one who won't care" and he agrees to share with her the secret information he has about her teammates. He tells her that Ink is the mystery "non-mutant" among them, which is later discovered by the rest of the team. Also, he subtly tells her that three of her friends will die soon, referring to Boom Boom
Tabitha Smith
Tabitha Smith is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by Jim Shooter and Al Milgrom, the character first appeared in Secret Wars II #5 . She later appeared as a member of the X-Force and, more recently, as a member of Nextwave...
, Hellion and Surge
Surge (comics)
Surge is a fictional character, a mutant in the Marvel Universe, one of the student body in the Xavier Institute, and a member of the former New Mutants squad therein. She maintained her powers post M-Day and was the leader of the New X-Men. She first appeared in New Mutants, vol...
, who were captured by the Sapien League and injected with a strain of the Legacy Virus
Legacy Virus
In the fictional Marvel Universe, the Legacy Virus was a devastating plague that ripped through the mutant population, killing hundreds and mutating so that it affected baseline humans as well....
.
Second Coming
It was eventually revealed that Pierce only was captured to act as Bastion's mole inside the X-Men's headquarters, all the while building several structures that surround Utopia.Later after receiving the green light from Bastion to proceed with their plan, Pierce provokes an explosion that decimates all the X-Men's jets and the Blackbirds. Pierce stands amid the debris, and muses to the X-Men that he is sorry that he will not live to witness the decimation of the mutant race. Pierce was perfectly right as Cyclops quickly eliminates him with an optic blast, and alerts the X-Men to expect an attack.
Powers and abilities
Donald Pierce is a cyborg originally with four artificial limbs, providing him with superhuman strength. His reflexes and agility are also inhumanly fast. These attributes are derived from his artificial body. His body has great resistance to damage and even if it is destroyed, as long as his head is intact he will probably survive. He had the ability to generate a shocking electrical current through his cyborg limbs or to hurl electrical force over short distances. He also had the ability to turn psionic assaults against the attacker to a limited degree. There is now nothing left of his original human body except the head, and how much of the head is even original is unknown. It is unknown if he still has his original brain or if he uploaded his memories, intelligence, and thought engramsEngram (neuropsychology)
Engrams are a hypothetical means by which memory traces are stored as biophysical or biochemical changes in the brain in response to external stimuli....
into a cyborg computer brain. As a member of the Reavers, he wore body armor.
Aside from his physical advantages, Donald Pierce is a genius in robotics, cybernetics, and electronics. In these fields he has developed technology that exceeds that of conventional science by approximately two centuries. He also has vast financial resources (a prerequisite for membership in the Hellfire Club). He is a college graduate in geological engineering and business administration, and is an accomplished strategist and business administrator. He is a fair hand-to-hand combatant, but relied on his cyborg strength.
Age of Apocalypse
In the Age of ApocalypseAge of Apocalypse
"Age of Apocalypse" is a 1995 - 1996 comic book crossover storyline published in the X-Men franchise of books by Marvel Comics. The Age of Apocalypse briefly replaced the universe of Earth-616, although it was later retconned as having occurred in the alternate universe of Earth-295, it had...
, Pierce was the leader of the Reavers, a band of human assassins enhanced by Apocalypse's techno-organic virus. Thanks to the virus, Pierce had regenerative abilities and the power to assimilate both organic and non-organic material to mutate himself. Pierce infiltrated the territory of the Human High Council in an attempt to destroy the Council fleet and later attempted to kill Gateway
Gateway (comics)
Gateway is a fictional comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics Universe, an Australian mutant with the ability to teleport objects and people from one location to another. He is considered an unofficial member of the X-Men...
, an ally of the HHC. After the fleet was assembled for an attack on Apocalypse
Apocalypse (comics)
Apocalypse is a fictional character who is an ancient mutant that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in X-Factor #5 , created by writer Louise Simonson and designed by artist Walter Simonson...
's empire, Pierce infected Carol Danvers with the remains of the Reaver Vultura to aid him in the destruction of the fleet. During his attack he also used Brian Braddock, who was under Apocalypse's mind control, to kill Emma Frost, though he resisted Pierce's orders, for which Pierce killed him. In the end, Pierce was killed by Weapon X
Wolverine (comics)
Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...
.
Pierce was however rebuilt by a human team known only as X-Terminators.
House of M
In the House of MHouse of M
House of M is an eight-issue comic book limited series and crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics in 2005. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Olivier Coipel, its first issue debuted in June 2005 as a follow-up to the events of the Planet X and Avengers Disassembled...
, Donald Pierce was a member of the Human Liberation Front, one of the many human resistance groups labeled as terrorists by the House of M
House of M
House of M is an eight-issue comic book limited series and crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics in 2005. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Olivier Coipel, its first issue debuted in June 2005 as a follow-up to the events of the Planet X and Avengers Disassembled...
. Alongside Seiji Ashida, the father of Surge
Surge (comics)
Surge is a fictional character, a mutant in the Marvel Universe, one of the student body in the Xavier Institute, and a member of the former New Mutants squad therein. She maintained her powers post M-Day and was the leader of the New X-Men. She first appeared in New Mutants, vol...
, he was part of the HLF's base in Tokyo, which had targeted Project Genesis, a plan of Emperor Sunfire to forcefully mutate baseline humans.
Ultimate Marvel
Donald Pierce has not appeared in the Ultimate MarvelUltimate Marvel
Ultimate Marvel is an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring reimagined and updated versions of the company's superhero characters, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four. The imprint was launched in 2000 with the publication of the series...
Universe yet; however, fans have noted the numerous similarities between Pierce and Ultimate Deadpool. In this incarnation, Deadpool is a mutant-hating cyborg who leads the Reavers, kidnapping Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
and the X-Men
Ultimate X-Men
Ultimate X-Men is a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2001 to 2009. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running X-Men comic book franchise as part of its Ultimate Marvel imprint...
to hunt for sport on Krakoa
Krakoa
Krakoa is a fictional character in Marvel Comics, commonly associated with the X-Men. It is a living island, an intelligent ecosystem able to command all the living things native to its island body, and even its terrain...
Island.
Inspiration
Pierce’s name and appearance were initially modeled by John Byrne upon Donald SutherlandDonald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
. The last name comes from Sutherland's character from the 1970 movie M*A*S*H
MASH (film)
MASH is a 1970 American satirical dark comedy film directed by Robert Altman and written by Ring Lardner, Jr., based on Richard Hooker's novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors. It is the only feature film in the M*A*S*H franchise...
, Hawkeye Pierce.
Television
- Donald Pierce appears in the Dark Phoenix saga in the X-MenX-Men (TV series)X-Men, also known as X-Men: The Animated Series, is an American animated television series which debuted on October 31, 1992, in the United States on the Fox Network as part of its Fox Kids Saturday morning lineup...
cartoon. He is depicted much younger than his comics counterpart. - Donald Pierce is featured in Wolverine and the X-Men. He is shown as part of the Inner Circle. Instead of a mutant-hating cyborg however, he is depicted as a mutant capable of emitting energy blasts.
External links
- Donald Pierce at Marvel.com
- Cerebras files: Donald Pierce