| Leech | |
|---|---|
 Leech as depicted inX-Men: The 198 #2 (April 2006). Art by Jim Muniz. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Uncanny X-Men #179 (March 1984) |
| Created by | Chris Claremont (writer) John Romita Jr. (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | James "Jimmy" (X-Men films) Dorian Leach (X-Men: Evolution) |
| Species | Human mutant |
| Team affiliations | |
| Notable aliases | The Cure Kid Incredible |
| Abilities | Power suppression |
Leech is a fictionalcharacter appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics.
Leech made his first appearance inUncanny X-Men as aMorlock, a group ofmutants whose deformities force them to live in the sewers underManhattan. He is usually depicted as being around twelve years old (his exact age is unrevealed). He speaks in broken English andrefers to himself in the third person.
Leech first appeared inThe Uncanny X-Men #179 (March 1984), and was created byChris Claremont andJohn Romita Jr.[1]
Leech appeared as part of the "Morlocks" entry in TheOfficial Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #9.
As a child, Leech is abandoned and left to die when his mutations become apparent. He is found by the MorlockCaliban and taken toAnnalee, who raises him and several other young mutants as her children.[2]
InMutant Massacre, Annalee and many other mutants are killed by theMarauders, with Leech being among the survivors. X-Factor takes him andArtie Maddicks in until they can be enrolled in St. Simons, a private school that accepts mutants.[3] The two later become junior members ofGeneration X.[4]
Leech and Artie Maddicks come to live at theMassachusetts Academy under the care ofEmma Frost andSean Cassidy. The school later goes bankrupt, forcing Emma and Sean to open the school to human students. To keep Artie and Leech from being isolated, Emma gives them image inducers that will disguise them as humans. Soon after, the school is exposed as a home for mutants, and Artie, Leech, andPenance are sent away to protect them.[5]
At some point, Leech is captured by the revivedWeapon X program and is used to keep imprisoned mutants under control. When the program is about to be discovered, those responsible attempt to erase all information surrounding it by killing the prisoners. Leech survives and is one of the estimated198 mutants who retain their powers afterM-Day.[6]
WhenNitro's destruction ofStamford, Connecticut causes the public to turn on superheroes at the start of the "Civil War" storyline,Domino,Shatterstar, and Caliban break out the 198 and take them to a bunker in the middle of the desert. They are sealed inside with nuclear weapons that are activated for self-detonation, but they are eventually freed from the bunker.[7] Leech accompanies Caliban to the Morlock tunnels, where they are attacked by an extremist group of Morlocks led byMasque. Masque kidnaps Leech, but he is rescued by the X-Men andSkids.[8]
Leech and Artie Maddicks are invited toFranklin Richards's birthday, and as a gift, Franklin invites them to live with theFantastic Four.[9] The two are enrolled in a special class with severalMoloids and Alex Power of thePower Pack, among others.[10] Leech later joins theFuture Foundation.[11]
Leech can dampen or completely suppress, for an undetermined amount of time, the powers and abilities of any superpowered beings within 50 feet of him.[12][13][3]
In 2014,Entertainment Weekly ranked Leech and Artie Maddicks 23rd in their "Let's rank every X-Man ever" list.[14]
An alternate universe variant of Leech from Earth-295 appears inAge of Apocalypse.[15]
An alternate universe variant of Leech fromEarth-811 appears inWolverine: Days of Future Past.[16]
An alternate universe variant of Leech fromEarth-1610 appears inUltimate X-Men.[17]
An alternate universe variant of Leech fromEarth-6160 appears inUltimate Wolverine #5.[18]
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Leech appears inX-Men: The Last Stand, portrayed byCameron Bright. This version is namedJimmy, possesses a human appearance, and was used by Worthington Labs to create a "mutant cure" before joining the Xavier Institute.