A Classic Mutant Superhero Has Marvel’s Most Bizarre Origin Story

The Marvel Universe is full of heroes and villains with harrowing origin stories. While numerous superpowered characters have gotten their powers from an X-Gene, radioactive spider bite, or at the hands of shadowy government agencies, there are still others whose beginnings are much more convoluted.

This is precisely the case when it comes to Gaveedra Seven, better known as Shatterstar. Although he has grown to be near synonymous with the X-Men over the years, the designation of mutant is one that barely scratches the surface of what he is. In fact, Shatterstar just might have the most complicated origin of any Marvel character, especially considering the fact that he is technically his own grandfather.

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Shatterstar is a Unique X-Men Mutant

Introduced in 1991’s New Mutants #99 (by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza), Shatterstar was raised as Gaveedra Seven on Mojoworld. Having been abandoned as an infant, Shatterstar had little hopes in terms of his future, with the life of a warrior in Mojoworld’s arenas being the best that he could strive to achieve. As a mutant, Shatterstar’s superhuman physique and healing factor made him a prime combatant, while his ability to channel vibrational waves through his swords pushed him over the edge of the competition. Shatterstar has also proven himself capable of creating portals to specific points in space by using someone he is emotionally attached to as a living anchor.

In spite of Shatterstar’s violent beginnings, his meaningful relationships would later take center stage in his life. Although he made his name as a member of Cable’s original X-Force, it was during his time with that team when he met Rictor. While there was an obvious attraction between the two from the beginning, Shatterstar simply wasn’t ready to embark on any kind of physical relationship due to the trauma he was still reeling from after decades of life on Mojoworld. Instead of driving the pair apart, this drove Rictor to dedicate much of his time to helping Shatterstar heal and come to terms with what his life had been and what it could be on Earth.

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How Shatterstar Became His Own Grandfather

When Shatterstar and Rictor’s new team, X-Factor, took part in the fight against the infernal Hell Lords, both mutants were seemingly vaporized by the devil Mephisto. Rather than losing their lives, however, the heroes were transported decades into the past and across dimensions to the terrifying terrain of the Mojoverse. Specifically, the two were transported to the time in which the inhabitants of that world were rebelling against their villainous overlords. Upon being brought before the fabled scientist Arize, Shatterstar’s genetic material was used to create a clone, who would in turn be used to create the Mojoworld hero Longshot after Shatterstar and Rictor were forced through time once more.

After a brief jump forward in the timeline, Shatterstar and Rictor came face-to-face with the mutant hero Alison Blaire, better known as Dazzler. At the time, the X-Men hero was actively giving birth to her first child. Despite Shatterstar and Rictor being happy to assist in the birthing process, the former was anything but with the situation as a whole. As it turned out, the child’s father was Longshot, while the newborn was Shatterstar himself. Thanks to the series of jumps through time he had taken as a result of Mephisto’s interference, Shatterstar ended up being his own grandfather, at least in the genealogical sense. Worse still, this meant that it was Shatterstar who had to take his infant self forward in time to be abandoned in the same war torn wasteland that nearly broke his mind, body, and spirit.

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The X-Men Need Shatterstar Now More Than Ever

Fortunately, Shatterstar’s experiences have not driven him away from heroics, even if they took a devastating toll on him as a person. In the time since encountering his past self, the mutant hero has gone on to play a prominent role in numerous storylines. Not only was Shatterstar one of the heroes who joined in the hunt for Kid Cable after the young, time-displaced antihero murdered his future self, he even willingly returned to his native dimension to rescue other mutants who had fallen under Mojo’s spineless command. Once Shatterstar was rescued by his old allies, he returned to Earth and immediately set his mind to reconciling with Rictor.

The idea that Shatterstar may have gotten a happy ending is certainly a nice thought, but appears to be highly unlikely. Apart from him taking part in the war against King Arthur and his Otherworld army during 2022’s Knights of X, more recent events have seen Krakoa devastated by Orchis’ attack on mutantkind. In the past weeks, the surviving mutants have been forced into the shadows, and Shatterstar has been cryptically absent.

Even Rictor hasn’t made an appearance in nearly a year at this point. It would be easy to assume that Shatterstar and Rictor were among those who fell during the Orchis attack, but it is hard to accept an off-panel fate like this for such experienced mutant heroes. It is far more likely that the two mutants have somehow managed to evade Orchis’ gaze in the wake of the attack on the Hellfire Gala, although their disappearances make this an uneasy assumption to make.