Feral debuted inThe New Mutants #99 (March 1991), created byRob Liefeld andFabian Nicieza.[1] She appeared regularly as a cast member inX-Force until she left the book in issue #28 (November 1993). The character would subsequently fall out of regular publication and made brief appearances inX-Force (1994, 1999),Quicksilver (1998), andNew X-Men (2002). She played a supporting role in a 2007 storyline inWolverine (vol. 3), during which she was killed. Feral was briefly revived during the 2009–2010 "Necrosha" event, but died again at the event's conclusion. Her ghost appeared inX-Factor #220–224 (August–October 2011).
Feral was resurrected during the 2019 "Dawn of X" publishing initiative and appeared sporadically in various X-Men titles published during theKrakoan Age.[2][3] WhenX-Factor was relaunched in 2024 as part of the "From the Ashes" publishing initiative, she joined the main cast, but was seemingly killed in issue #1 (October 2024) along with several other team members.
Maria Callasantos was born inNew York City to Marcella Callasantos and an unnamed father. She is the second of four children, including her older sisterLucia, her younger brother Matteo, and her younger sister Carolina. Her father is abusive towards Marcella and abandons his family shortly after Carolina is born. He is later found dead of a drug overdose and Marcella blames the size of their family for driving him away. Maria, influenced by this, comes to blame her younger siblings for their father abandoning them. While Maria is babysitting Matteo and Carolina, Carolina falls down a flight of stairs and dies. It is left ambiguous as to whether Maria is involved in her sister's death. Later, Matteo trips and falls off of the roof of their tenement while chasing pigeons Maria keeps as pets. Maria witnesses this and it is implied that she did not try to help her brother as he hung from the building's ledge, killing him with her inaction.
As with mostmutants, Lucia and Maria's mutations develop when they begin puberty, though Maria's develops more quickly than Lucia's. Both sisters gradually gain feline features, including fur and claws. Meanwhile, Marcella begins dating Henry Bellinger, an alcoholic and cocaine addict, and soon becomes addicted to cocaine herself. Henry makes frequent sexual advances towards Lucia and Maria and eventually attempts to rape Lucia, but Maria intervenes and kills him. In retaliation, Marcella kills Maria's pet pigeons, sending Maria into a murderous rage. She kills her mother and she and Lucia run away to the tunnels under the city, joining theMorlocks and taking the namesFeral and Thornn respectively.[4]
Feral is introduced inThe New Mutants during her attempt to escape from the despoticMasque, leader of the Morlocks.[5] She seeks refuge with theNew Mutants and warns them of Masque's plans to ignite a war with the surface, beginning with attacking their team.Cable fights off her pursuers and Feral agrees to join his new paramilitary groupX-Force in return for protection.[6] Feral joins the cast ofX-Force as one of the team's founding members[7] and helps defeat theBrotherhood of Evil Mutants when they ally with the Morlocks, dueling her sister Thornn.[8] She appears in the 1992–1993 "X-Cutioner's Song" event, notably losing a fight withX-Factor memberWolfsbane.[9]
During a mission to rescueHenry Peter Gyrich from theMutant Liberation Front (M.L.F.), the M.L.F.'s leader,Reignfire, convinces Feral to leave X-Force and join him, preying on her resentment of Gyrich's anti-mutant bigotry.[10] Feral serves as an operative of the M.L.F.[11] until Thornn is arrested on suspicion of murdering their family and later rescued by X-Force from the anti-mutant group theFriends of Humanity.[12] Learning of Thornn and Feral's troubled past, X-Force confront and subdue Feral, who is arrested and imprisoned for murdering her mother, her mother's boyfriend, and her siblings.[4]
Escaping prison, Feral next appears inQuicksilver (1997–1998) as a member of a team of villainous mutants led byPyro. She and her teammates have been infected by theLegacy Virus and are working forExodus and theAcolytes in exchange for a cure.[13] They fail in their mission and are left stranded in theSavage Land.[14]
Later, Feral reappears inX-Force as part of theNew Hellions, suffering both physically and mentally from the effects of the Legacy Virus.[15] During a battle with X-Force, she slicesSiryn's vocal chords and retreats with the remaining New Hellions when the fight turns in X-Force's favor.[16]
Feral is eventually cured of the Legacy Virus[17] and joins theMumbai branch of theX-Corporation with Thornn.[18] Both of them lose their powers when theScarlet Witch depowers most mutants on Earth in the 2005 "House of M" event and X-Corporation subsequently disbands.[19] She next appears inWolverine (vol. 3), in which she and Thornn regain their feline appearances after experimentation by the mutant geneticistRomulus.[20] Feral assistsWolverine in searching forSabretooth, who later kills her in battle.[21]
During the 2009–2010 "Necrosha" event, Feral is resurrected with thetransmode virus bySelene andEli Bard.[22] Following Selene's death, Feral dies as well, along with most of the resurrected mutants.[23]
She later appears as a ghost inX-Factor and attempts to kill the pregnant Wolfsbane.[24] Her spirit serves as an anchor for the various gods and demons who want to use Wolfsbane's unbornAsgardian child for their own ends and she herself attacks and torments Wolfsbane until she gives birth.[25]
During theKrakoan Age, Feral is resurrected bythe Five and resides onKrakoa alongside other mutants, including her former X-Force teammates.[26] She becomesMarrow's roommate and the two bond over their shared history with the Morlocks.[27] She later helps Marrow investigate mutant disappearances inMadripoor and fight the anti-mutant organization Homines Verendi.[28]
Feral is captured by the anti-mutant terrorist groupOrchis during the fall of Krakoa and infected withWarlock's transmode virus, transforming into one of Orchis' subservient techno-organicHounds.[29][30] She is later rescued byCreepy Crawler and cured of the virus.[31]
After the dissolution of the mutant nation on Krakoa, Feral joinsX-Factor but is seemingly killed in a nuclear power plant meltdown during a mission.[32]
Amutant, Feral possessessuperhuman and feline attributes.[33][34] Her powers include superhuman speed, agility, stamina, senses, and reflexes.[35] Her regenerative healing factor allows her to heal faster than a human.[36] She has sharp claws, fangs, and aprehensile tail.[37][38] She loses her powers afterM-Day,[19] butRomulus' genetic experiments later restore her feline appearance.[20] Feral completely regains her powers after she is resurrected onKrakoa.[26]
^Campbell, Sophie (w), Carlini, Eleonora (a), Farrell, Triona (col), Maher, Ariana (let), Roché, Angélique, Brunstad, Sarah (ed). "Give A Cat A Bone" Women of Marvel, vol. 2, no. 1 (June 2021). New York, NY: Marvel Comics.
^Thompson, Zac (w), Sevy, Phillip (a), De La Cruz, Ceci (col), Sabino, Joe (let), Amaro, Lauren (ed). "Unbreakable" X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic, vol. 1, no. 75–79 (February–March 2023). New York, NY: Marvel Comics.
^"Feral Voice -Wolverine versus Sabretooth (TV Show)". Behind The Voice Actors. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
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