Black Swan (comics)

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caption=
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Black Swan
real_name=
species=Human Mutant
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Deadpool" vol. 3 #65
creators=Gail Simone
Udon Studios
alliance_color=background:#ffc0c0
alliances=
aliases=
powers=Implants a telepathic virus in the minds of others which disrupts the natural functions of their brains to cut off access to and override motor coordination, disorient their concentration, etc.|

Black Swan is a fictional character from Marvel Comics who first appeared in "Deadpool" vol. 3, #65. Black Swan was created by Gail Simone and the artists of Udon Studios.

Fictional character biography

Black Swan is a German mutant in the Marvel Universe, raised in the Bavarian circus and highly trained in hand-to-hand, swordplay and gunmanship. He utilized his ability to infect the minds of others with disruptive "telepathic viruses" to become a successful mercenary and hit man, which brought him into conflict with the Taskmaster. He carried out an assassination on the four heads of the Japanese Four Winds crime families and organisation in New York, but although he carried it out surreptitiously, the credit was given to rival contractor Deadpool, who crashed through a skylight above the Four Winds at the same time, while firing wildly and in fact unknowingly missed the targets. When Deadpool was subsequently hired to kill Black Swan in Germany, the assassin beat Deadpool senseless, infected his mind with a mental "virus", and brought him to the U.S., having him brutally beaten every few minutes to prevent him from fully healing.

Swan attempted to use his operative, Nijo, a brother of one of the Four Winds, to torment Deadpool further, saying that letting Deadpool live with diminished capacity would be a greater humiliation than killing him. Once Taskmaster identified the Swan to Deadpool, the merc with a mouth travelled to the Swan's castle in Germany for a final showdown. When Nijo tried to kill Deadpool, claiming a personal vendetta against him, Black Swan impaled him with a sword-cane and fought Deadpool both physically and mentally, though he lost and was thrown face first into the white hot gridle of his own fireplace. A bomb Deadpool had brought as insurance went off before Deadpool could disarm it, destroying Black Swan's castle.

Apparently Black Swan was able to use his powers to in some way absorb traits from both Deadpool and Nijo in order to survive, resulting in the three of them sharing aspects of each others' powers, knowledge and personalities. ["Agent X" # 14] The modified Nijo would become Agent X, while Black Swan was rescued by a Portuguese fishing boat, and Deadpool was rendered temporarily amnesiac. The three were reunited, along with Taskmaster and Sandi Brandenburg, ["Agent X" #13] and Black Swan demanded the return of his personality and abilities, for which he required Agent X's help, proposing a three-way mindmeld to restore each man. ["Agent X" #14]

Black Swan, however, double-crossed the others and absorbed both their powers, enhancing his own abilities to a tremendous level. Agent X, having anticipated treachery, had called upon a small army of heavily armed mercenaries to surround the area, but they proved no match for Black Swan's newly augmented telepathy and were quickly incapacitated. Together with the mercenary called Outlaw, Deadpool, Agent X, and Taskmaster were able to overwhelm Black Swan's healing ability and kill him. To be on the safe side, they had his body stuffed by a Taxidermist so that he could not regenerate.

Powers and abilities

Originally the Black Swan had the power to infect the minds of others with a telepathic "virus" (akin to a computer virus) capable of disrupting neural functions to varying degrees. He was also able to use this ability to search others' memories for information, and heal certain types of psychological disorders, as he did for the mentally ill man called Ratbag. ["Deadpool" vol. 3 #69] He was also a highly skilled fighter and assassin.

He proved able to absorb not only knowledge and skills, but also physical powers from others in a moment of great stress.

After absorbing part of Deadpool's abilities and memories, he had a healing factor, but his telepathic abilities were diminished. Upon absorbing the powers of both Deadpool and Agent X, his healing factor and telepathy were both increased to a great degree. He was also able to levitate himself at this time.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix2/blackswan.htm A detailed Black Swan profile at Marvel Appendix]