Bastion is a
fictional
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a tradit ...
supervillain
A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero.
Supervillains are of ...
appearing in
American comic book
An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...
s published by
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...
. The character was created by
Scott Lobdell
Scott Lobdell (; born 1960) is an American comic book writer and screenwriter known for his work on numerous ''X-Men'' series for Marvel Comics in the 1990s, various work for DC Comics in the 2010s, namely '' Red Hood and the Outlaws, Teen Tita ...
and
Pascual Ferry
Pasqual Ferry (sometimes credited as Paschalis, Pascual or Pascal Ferry) is a Spanish comic book artist and penciller.
Biography
Ferry is known in the United States' comic industry for his work on ''Heroes for Hire'' (1997), ''Action Comics'' (2 ...
and first made a
cameo appearance
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...
in ''
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...
'' #52 (May 1996) while his first full appearance was in ''The
Uncanny X-Men
''Uncanny X-Men'', originally published as ''The X-Men'', is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics since 1963, and is the longest-running series in the X-Men comics franchise. It features a team of superheroes called the X- ...
'' #333 (June 1996).
Fictional character biography
Operation: Zero Tolerance
Bastion is a mysterious man named Sebastion Gilberti who had risen to power in a relatively short time in the
U.S. Government and began assembling the international anti-mutant strike force
Operation: Zero Tolerance (OZT). When the X-Men learned about the existence of OZT some months before the operation became public,
Gambit
A gambit (from Italian , the act of tripping someone with the leg to make them fall) is a chess opening in which a player sacrifices with the aim of achieving a subsequent advantage.
The word '' gambit'' is also sometimes used to describe sim ...
and
Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
, acting on information, snuck into an OZT meeting being held at the Pentagon to learn more about the program and its leader Bastion, but did not come out with much. Bastion showed that he was more than met the eye as Phoenix could not read his mind and Bastion easily identified the two X-Men hidden among representatives of various foreign intelligence agencies interested in supporting OZT.
When
Professor X voluntarily turned himself in after the
Onslaught
Onslaught may refer to:
Characters
* Onslaught (Marvel Comics), a Marvel Comics supervillain
* Onslaught (DC Comics), a DC Comics team of Quraci terrorists
* Onslaught (Transformers), the leader of the Combaticons in the ''Transformers'' series
...
event, Bastion confined him in an OZT facility along with the artificially-created mutant Mannites which, it was later revealed, allowed Bastion to take direct control over the
Xavier Institute for Higher Learning
The X-Mansion or Xavier Institute is the common name for a mansion and research institute appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The mansion is depicted as the private estate of Charles Francis Xavier, a character in X ...
. It also allowed Bastion to gain possession of the
Xavier Protocols
Professor X (Charles Francis Xavier) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as the founder and sometimes leader of the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-wr ...
, a list of files containing information on killing the X-Men. Bastion also killed a Daily Bugle reporter named Nick Bandouveris, who was going to report on
Graydon Creed
Graydon Creed is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Brandon Peterson and first appeared in ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #299 (A ...
's history and later Bastion himself succeeded in capturing
Jubilee
A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of y ...
and taking her to the OZT base in New Mexico.
As the OZT attempted to reconfigure the Sentinel force assembled by Project: Wideawake, Bastion deemed most of them outdated. Instead, Bastion was able to develop a new type of Sentinel, the
Prime Sentinels. Graydon's death was the last ammunition needed to initiate Bastion's OZT, which attacked mutants everywhere. The operation soon targeted and succeeded in capturing some members of the
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in 1970 due to lo ...
.
Bastion also tries to buy off
J. Jonah Jameson directly with all the available information he has managed to gather and decrypt on the outlaw X-Men and their associates. However, Jameson reveals that he has already been working on his own story for quite some time and invites Bastion to see what he has so far. When Bastion sees nothing, Jameson points out that Bastion has managed to ingratiate, intimidate, and dominate his way into a position of power in over a dozen countries. Yet there is no evidence of his existence. To Jameson, this means the greatest story to follow is Bastion himself. He also implies that Bastion was behind the disappearance of Nick Bandouveris and this means Bastion would kill to keep his secrets. Jameson then burns the data disk and orders Bastion out of his office and warns that he will see him charged with Nick's murder.
After learning the nature of the Prime Sentinels, the
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
was convinced by
Senator Robert Kelly
Robert Edward Kelly is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He most often appears in Marvel's ''X-Men'' related comic books. He is a prominent United States Senator who began his career on an anti-muta ...
and
Henry Peter Gyrich
Henry Peter Gyrich () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a liaison of the United States government who is against the superhuman community.
Publication history
The character first appeared ...
to suspend Bastion's operations. Bastion was captured by
S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in ''Strange Tales'' #135 (August 1965), it often dea ...
, with help from
Iceman.
Origin
While in government custody, more mysteries surrounding Bastion were discovered, but before a further investigation could be made, Bastion managed to escape and returned to the home of his mother figure, Rose Gilberti. However, she is accidentally killed by the authorities which sends Bastion into a rage and returns to the former OZT facility where Cable is fighting Machine Man, who’s lost touch with his humanity. Bastion makes contact with the
Master Mold
Master Mold is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics most commonly appearing as an enemy of the X-Men and Mutant (Marvel Comics), mutant-related comic books.
Publication History
The Master Mold ...
unit which he had created the Prime Sentinels. Master Mold is drained of its energy as Bastion is transformed into a Nimrod unit.
Being transformed, allowed Bastion’s memories to be unblocked in the process and as it turns out Bastion had not been born human at all but started life out as two separate beings: the
Sentinel
Sentinel may refer to:
Places Mountains
* Mount Sentinel, a mountain next to the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana
* Sentinel Buttress, a volcanic crag on James Ross Island, Antarctica
* Sentinel Dome, a naturally occurring grani ...
Master Mold
Master Mold is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics most commonly appearing as an enemy of the X-Men and Mutant (Marvel Comics), mutant-related comic books.
Publication History
The Master Mold ...
, and the highly advanced Sentinel
Nimrod
Nimrod (; ; arc, ܢܡܪܘܕ; ar, نُمْرُود, Numrūd) is a biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush and therefore a great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of ...
from an
alternate future
Time travel is a common theme in fiction, mainly since the late 19th century, and has been depicted in a variety of media, such as literature, television, film, and advertisements.
The concept of time travel by mechanical means was popularized ...
. While posing as a human construction worker, Nimrod unearthed a module from Master Mold. As soon as Nimrod made physical contact with the module, Master Mold's programming began to co-opt Nimrod's. Shortly after, during a conflict with the X-Men, the two of them, along with the X-Man
Rogue, were blasted through the
Siege Perilous
In Arthurian legend, the Siege Perilous ( cy, Gwarchae Peryglus, also known as The Perilous Seat, cy, Sedd Peryglus) is a vacant seat at the Round Table reserved by Merlin for the knight who would one day be successful in the quest for the Holy ...
, a mystical crystal capable of judging any who pass through it and reincarnating them into a new life commensurate in quality with their previous life. It was the Siege Perilous that was responsible for merging Nimrod and Master Mold into a single being with no memory of his past. Bastion was eventually found by Rose Gilberti who took him in and taught him human kindness. However, unbeknown to him, when Bastion began to hear about America's mutant problem, his mutant-termination directives were re-activated. He abandoned Rose and sought out high-profile mutant critic, Graydon Creed, and his
Friends of Humanity
The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features.
Places
Certain places fe ...
. After regaining its identity as a Sentinel, Bastion attempts to lead another crusade against mutants by turning
Machine Man into a Sentinel Supreme, but Machine Man and
Cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
were able to defeat him. He was returned to government custody, only to be beheaded later by
Apocalypse's Horseman of
Death
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
.
Template
Bastion's remains were eventually found by a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent named Mainspring who headed a project called the Gatekeepers, whose goal is to study and destroy
Phalanx
The phalanx ( grc, φάλαγξ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , ) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. The term is particularly ...
technology. Bastion was, however, able to co-opt and integrate itself with one of the Gatekeeper's bodies and used it to attack the techno-organic hero Warlock and his allies, being eventually defeated. Mainspring was able to strip away the layers of Bastion's programming to reveal the original Master Mold's source code and, using the alien transmode virus he was infected with, rewrote Bastion's programming, transforming him into Template. The virus soon took complete control of Template and forced him to construct a Babel Spire on Earth to signal the alien Technarchy. To oppose them, Mainspring destroyed himself along with Template, while
Warlock
A warlock is a male practitioner of witchcraft.
Etymology and terminology
The most commonly accepted etymology derives '' warlock'' from the Old English '' wǣrloga'', which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver" and was given special applicati ...
and
Wolfsbane managed to destroy the Babel Spire.
Sometime later,
Carol Danvers
Carol Susan Jane Danvers is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Gene Colan, Danvers first appeared as an officer in the United States Air Force and a colleague of th ...
contacted the X-Men about the current whereabouts of the remains of Bastion/Template. The X-Men sent
Shadowcat
Katherine Anne "Kitty" Pryde is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. The character first appeared in ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #129 (January 1980) and was co-created by wri ...
, Wolverine, and
Gambit
A gambit (from Italian , the act of tripping someone with the leg to make them fall) is a chess opening in which a player sacrifices with the aim of achieving a subsequent advantage.
The word '' gambit'' is also sometimes used to describe sim ...
to break into the government facility, intending to reclaim their stolen computer files. While there, Template showed the three X-Men false holograms of events and lies about their teammates. The X-Men eventually got their files, but they were left with doubts and fears about their teammates.
X-Force
Following the events of the ''
Messiah Complex
A messiah complex (Christ complex or savior complex) is a state of mind in which an individual holds a belief that they are destined to become a savior today or in the near future. The term can also refer to a state of mind in which an individual ...
'' event, the fundamentalist
Purifiers assaulted a heavily defended SHIELD installation, breaching the tight security with the aid of several double agents within the organization and recovered Bastion's head. At one of their churches, the Purifiers attached the head to the body of the Nimrod unit recovered from Forge's Aerie, returning Bastion to life. Immediately after his activation, the mutant-hunting robot alerts the Purifiers to the presence of the new
X-Force
X-Force is a fictional team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. Conceived by writer/illustrator Rob Liefeld, the team first appeared in '' New Mutants'' #100 ...
. After accessing Nimrod's database, Bastion concludes that the X-Men are the greatest mutant threat to the Purifiers' objectives in this timeline or any other and that there is no terrestrial force in existence that could guarantee the elimination of the X-Men. However, he reveals that he has found something that could:
Magus
Magi (; singular magus ; from Latin '' magus'', cf. fa, مغ ) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius th ...
.
It was later revealed that what Bastion discovered at the bottom of the ocean was not the real Magus, but one of his offspring in a mindless state. Bastion rewrote its programming and infected
Donald Pierce
Donald Pierce is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as a cyborg and is commonly an enemy of the X-Men.
The character was portrayed by Boyd Holbrook in the 2017 film '' ...
and the
Leper Queen, the recovered techno-organic remains of
Cameron Hodge
Cameron Hodge is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an opponent of the X-Men. Created by writer Bob Layton and artist Jackson Guice, he first appeared as a s ...
and
Steven Lang, as well as the corpses of
Bolivar Trask
Bolivar Trask is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a military scientist whose company Trask Industries is well known as the creator of the Sentinels. He is also the father of Larry Trask ...
, Graydon Creed, and Reverend
William Stryker
The Reverend William Stryker is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A minister and former sergeant with a strong hatred for mutants, he is usually depicted as an enemy of the X-Men. He is also the ...
with the Technarch transmode virus, declaring them to be the future of humanity and the end of mutantkind.
His first move was to capture several mutants and inject them with a strain of the Legacy Virus to cause their powers to go berserk and kill themselves and thousands of humans. This would compel the United Nations to form a Mutant Response Division, which is successful, despite X-Force's efforts.
Bastion also had Pierce act as his mole inside the X-Men's headquarters, all the while building several structures that surround Utopia.
Second Coming
Bastion is the primary antagonist in the ''X-Men: Second Coming'' storyline. He is seen with Steven Lang,
Cameron Hodge
Cameron Hodge is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an opponent of the X-Men. Created by writer Bob Layton and artist Jackson Guice, he first appeared as a s ...
, and the revived
Bolivar Trask
Bolivar Trask is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a military scientist whose company Trask Industries is well known as the creator of the Sentinels. He is also the father of Larry Trask ...
, William Stryker, and Graydon Creed, stating that their forces are assembled and at his disposal. Bastion tells them that the Mutant Messiah has returned and gives them orders to kill her. Later, Bastion attempts to kill
Hope on his own, but he is confronted by Rogue and then severely damaged when
Nightcrawler sacrifices himself. When rebooting, Bastion takes on much of Nimrod's old appearance, but is finally destroyed towards the end of the crossover when Hope manifests a variety of the current X-Men's mutant powers and obliterates him.
X-Men: Blue
Despite his apparent destruction, Bastion had survived the attack by activating, at the last second, his temporal drives and shunted himself into the future. However, Bastion had suffered catastrophic damage from Hope's assault and the time-shift had corrupted and compromised his systems. Arriving when mutants were being faced with extinction due to the Terrigenesis cloud, Bastion decided to re-dedicate himself to protecting mutants, assembling, and reprogramming a wave of standard sentinels. He eventually returned to the present and was soon confronted by the
time-displaced X-Men which confirm that Bastion's actual goal is simply to preserve mutants until their population rises to a level where he can destroy them all himself. The team try to fight him but Bastion instead just left them and retreat with his Sentinels.
In the aftermath of Hydra takeover of the United States of America under the leadership of a Cosmic Cube-altered Captain America, Bastion seemingly started to work with Miss Sinister, Emma Frost and Havok to use Mothervine on a global scale. Bastion went with Havok to take control of an army of Prime Sentinels; since his programming was unrecognizable by them, they identified him as a threat despite his role in their creation. Bastion continued to survey the development and growth of the Mothervine to continue mutant repopulation, much to the chagrin of Emma Frost. After
Sebastian Shaw failed in his attempt to kill Magneto to gain a role in the Mothervine plot, Bastion was present to negotiate with and later fight the Master of Magnetism, simultaneously unleashing a wave of Prime Sentinels to finally release Mothervine under Havok's order; Magento was able to escape by using a vial of Mutant Growth Hormone and throwing a lighthouse at the group, fleeing in the chaos.
Thanks to Bastion's efforts, both humans and mutants began to experience accelerated mutations through exposure to the Mothervine. A group of mutants, led by Polaris, managed to infiltrate the Mothervine group's hideout once Mothervine was already active, with Bastion detecting their presence and alerting the rest of the group; Bastion incapacitated the daughter of Magneto when she refused Havok's offer to join them, and they were imprisoned as a result. A traitorous Emma, disillusioned by the Mothervine plot, freed Polaris and her team after overseeing an experiment by Miss Sinister on Jimmy Hudson, and they made their way to the inner circle's meeting room. At this point, Magneto had discovered the mutant
Elixir
ELIXIR (the European life-sciences Infrastructure for biological Information) is an initiative that will allow life science laboratories across Europe to share and store their research data as part of an organised network. Its goal is to bring t ...
, who was capable of reversing the Mothervine mutations and was taken across the world to stop the rampancy, to the notice of Havok and Bastion. Emma and Polaris managed to break into their meeting, and Bastion began fighting them off. Ultimately, he was caught off-guard by the arrival of
Xorn
Xorn is the alias of two fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in '' New X-Men Annual 2001'', he was created by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. He is a mutant who has a miniature ...
, who absorbed him into a wormhole and seemingly destroyed them both.
[''X-Men: Blue'' #28. Marvel Comics.]
Powers and abilities
Being a robot, Bastion has super strength, speed, intelligence, and endurance. He can also fly by using jet boots. He is immune to
psychic reading
A psychic reading is a specific attempt to discern information through the use of heightened perceptive abilities; or natural extensions of the basic human senses of sight, sound, touch, taste and instinct. These natural extensions are claimed to ...
from telepaths and has complete command of all Sentinels. He has an artificial healing factor like Nimrod, and the ability to turn people into Prime Sentinels. The Siege Perilous also conferred to Bastion something akin to eternal life, and he can exert itself on any cybernetic life form.
Other versions
Age of Apocalypse
A version of Bastion is seen in the
Age of Apocalypse
"Age of Apocalypse" is a 1995 comic book crossover storyline mostly published in the X-Men franchise of books by Marvel Comics. The ''Age of Apocalypse'' briefly replaced the universe of Earth-616 and had ramifications in the main Marvel Comics ...
storyline. When the X-Men are discussing
Abyss
Abyss may refer to:
* Abyss (religion), a bottomless pit, or a passage to the underworld
Film and television
* ''The Abyss'' (1910 film), a Danish silent film starring Asta Nielsen
* ''The Abyss'' (1988 film) (''L'Œuvre au noir''), a French- ...
, they describe him as the one "rumored to have replaced Bastion". This iteration has never been seen in the comic and there is no indication whether or not he is related to the 616 version.
In other media
Video games
* Bastion is the main villain in ''
X-Men: Next Dimension'', voiced by
Don Morrow
Donald Gordon Morrow (January 29, 1927 – October 27, 2020) was an American announcer, television presenter, and voiceover artist.Stephen Heyman ''The New York Times'', April 10, 2009.
Morrow was the announcer for the 1950s game show '' On Y ...
. This version rips information out of
Forge's mind and plants devices in his Sentinels that can depower a mutant. At
Asteroid M
Magneto (; birth name: Max Eisenhardt; alias: Erik Lehnsherr and Magnus) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writ ...
, either
Magneto
A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...
or
Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
destroys him once and for all. In his character profile, it is implied that his real name is Sebastian Gilbert.
* Bastion appears as one of the
bosses in ''
X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse'', voiced by
Alastair Duncan. This version seems to be a mere anti-mutant activist (though his true nature is mentioned in a trivia minigame), yet his ability to control Sentinels is noted as the mission in question where he attacks the X-Men involved the X-Men teaming up with Sentinels to save civilians. Bastion then took control of the Sentinels to turn them against the X-Men.
* Bastion appears in ''
X-Men: Destiny'', voiced by
Keith Szarabajka
Keith Szarabajka (; ; born December 2, 1952) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Mickey Kostmayer on '' The Equalizer'', Daniel Holtz on ''Angel'', Gerard Stephens in '' The Dark Knight'' and Adam Engell in '' Argo''. ...
. He is said to have killed
Professor X in the opening cutscene. Magneto apparently killed him in the same battle. It's revealed that he had uploaded his mind into the Telos orbital satellite where he took control of Luis Reyes and used him along with the
Mutant Response Division,
Purifiers and
U-Men
The U-Men was an American rock band, formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1980 and active until 1989. They toured extensively across the United States. Their musically "dirty" sound and off-the-wall sense of humor were a forerunner for the later ...
to begin hostilities with Mutants.
* Bastion appears as a Group Boss in ''
Marvel: Avengers Alliance''.
References
External links
Bastionat Marvel.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bastion (Comics)
Characters created by Scott Lobdell
Comics characters introduced in 1996
Fictional activists
Fictional artificial intelligences
Marvel Comics cyborgs
Fictional mass murderers
Fictional private military members
Fictional technopaths
Marvel Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds
Marvel Comics characters with accelerated healing
Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength
Marvel Comics male supervillains
Marvel Comics robots
X-Men supporting characters