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Mutant Underground
In General
A network of mutants and sympathizers operating outside the law to protect mutants from persecution and help them flee the United States.
- Expy: They're a loose nationwide network of safe houses, self-consciously in imitation of the Underground Railroad.
- Failure Hero: In Season 2, they basically accomplish nothing whatsoever, while the Inner Circle is running circles around them and the public hate against mutants reaches new heights.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: They are fighting for the survival of mutantkind with none of the resources or the charismatic, strategic leadership of the X-Men.
- La Résistance: They are a resistance movement fighting legalized persecution of mutants in the United States.
- Superhero Speciation: Averted, by having two members (Harry and Tex) with Invisibility powers (though Tex's powers are much more powerful).
- The Remnant:
- They're basically a spinoff of the X-Men, a hastily slapped together network of safe houses and cells with a handful of street-level allies the X-Men set up right before they disappeared. They explicitly do not have the resources or combat readiness the X-Men had, and are just barely scraping by. Frequently they're just focused on acquiring basic supplies and avoiding police sweeps.
- Season 1 devotes some time to stressing that most of them are just non-combatant child runaways: most mutant runaways don't live long enough to practice and control their powers, allowing them to level up (and be the next Cyclops or Magneto-level fighter). A major problem the Atlanta cell has is that really, only three of them are combat-ready "heavy hitters" useful in a stand-up fight against the police (Thunderbird, Polaris, and Eclipse). Beyond that, they have a few more who have full control over useful but not really combat powers (Sage's computer powers, Dreamer's memory-altering powers for infiltration, and new member Blink's teleporting). But that's about it - to the point that pursuing two tactical objectives at the same time is actually a major challenge for them, because they're just spread that thinly: they don't have the luxury of the X-Men's multiple full teams (Gold, Blue, etc.) and barely have a single half-strength tactical team. The Frost sisters are the ones to Lampshade this pointing out the X-Men left them with nothing but just a base and a “pat on the back”.
Marcos Diaz/Eclipse
Marcos Diaz/Eclipse
"I don't care about the X-Men. I don't care about the Brotherhood. I care about my family!"
Portrayed by: Sean Teale
"The X-Men, the Brotherhood, we don't even know if they exist anymore. We are alone. And we're getting picked off one by one."
A rebellious mutant who can absorb and manipulate photons. He's Lorna's boyfriend.
- Alien Blood: He "bleeds" sunlight. It's later clarified that he has blood just like anyone else, but his powers charge his cells with energy that has to dissipate before it looks like normal blood.
- Blinded by the Light: He can release intense light which can temporarily blind his opponents. If done for long enough, he can even permanently blind someone.
- The Brute: He used to be muscle for a drug lord.
- Composite Character: His relationship with Lorna stems from the comics version of Havok while his background and powers have more in common with Sunspot.
- Dark and Troubled Past: He was thrown out of his house when he was 13 when his powers first manifested and had to do many unsavory things to survive. These include getting involved with a drug cartel.
- Energy Weapon: He can concentrate light in order to fire heat beams from his fingers.
- Expy: While Marcos technically doesn't exist in any Marvel continuity, he's obviously meant to resemble Sunspot, who appears in X-Men: Days of Future Past and The New Mutants. In fact, the only character in Marvel lore who's ever used the codename Eclipse
is an Alternate Universe Sunspot. - Grease Monkey: He seems to work as a mechanic.
- Ironic Nickname: His mutant name is Eclipse but his powers allow him to emit light. He can absorb light to make his surroundings darker, but it's clearly taxing for him.
- The Power of the Sun: His powers involve light and the sun.
- Real Men Love Jesus: He is shown praying a few times.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: In most of his interactions with Thunderbird, he is the impulsive, Determinator red oni compared to his more strategic and composed friend.
John Proudstar/Thunderbird
John Proudstar/Thunderbird
"I found you. Trust me, I can find him."
Portrayed by: Blair Redford
"In the Marines... when you want to give up, they train you to focus on what you care about most. To hold onto it like your life depended on it, because at some point, it will."
The athletic, superstrong leader of the underground mutant network.
- Adaptational Personality Change: His counterpart in the comics is defined as a Leeroy Jenkins-type, while this version of the character is more cautious and methodical.
- Badass Native: A Native American who can tank bullets.
- Chick Magnet: Sonya, Blink, and even the Frost twins admit that he is attractive.
- Fatal Flaw: John constantly puts all the bad things that have happened on his shoulders even when some of them weren’t really his fault.
- Immune to Bullets: Downplayed. He's tough enough that handgun rounds aren't a threat to him, but there is a limit to what he can take. As closer ranges or with heavier weapons, even if the bullets don't fully penetrate, they still break the skin. Buckshot, for example, causes a lot of bloody wounds.
- It's All My Fault: Starts to have this mentality in season 2, as he essentially takes the full responsibility for Sonya's death, the Atlanta base explosion, the change of allegiance of some Mutant Underground members and the death of Michael, who was a soldier like he.
- It's Personal: Between him and Jace Turner in Season 2, after the latter apparently kills Blink. He subjects him to a brutal No-Holds-Barred Beatdown in the finale, but stops short of killing him.
- The Leader: He's the leader of the underground mutants.
- Lightning Bruiser: He's fast and strong.
- Magical Native American: Downplayed. He's a mutant, but not because of his Native American ethnicity. However, his superhuman tracking ability does play into Native American stereotypes.
- My Significance Sense Is Tingling: His enhanced senses allow him to foresee incoming enemies.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: In most of his interactions with Eclipse, he is the strategic and composed blue oni compared to his impulsive friend.
- Scarily Competent Tracker: He also has the ability to track other mutants.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Whereas his counterpart in the mainstream Marvel Universe was killed off almost immediately after being introduced, this version will be sticking around longer.
- Super-Senses: Has superhuman hearing.
- Super-Soldier: Though not artificially enhanced, he's a mutant and mentions his military service several times. The opening of Episode 6 gives a taste of how well his broad powerset could be applied in a warzone: hearing incoming attacks, disposing of explosives, shielding others from explosions, catching shrapnel out of the air...
- Super-Strength: His personal powerset, as said above.
- Super-Toughness: He's tough enough to be hit with the severed tailgate of a truck without injury, handgun bullets just bounce off him harmlessly, and even getting shot at point blank range twice with a shotgun doesn’t do him in, although from the look on his face a third round to the head would have probably done him in.
Lorna Dane/Polaris
Lorna Dane/Polaris
"It's time to make a new world."
Portrayed by: Emma Dumont
"When they look at me they see a troubled young woman... I'll show them trouble."
A young woman with the powers of magnetism.
- Action Mom: She becomes this after giving birth to her daughter.
- Anti-Hero: She becomes quite angry and violent after being freed from prison.
- Badass in Distress: While in prison, she's unable to use her powers and beaten up by fellow prisoners.
- The Big Guy: Before she gets detained in the pilot, she's clearly the heavy hitter of Thunderbird's underground mutant team.
- Broken Bird: Her bipolar disorder and years of mistreatment and imprisonment have made her bitter and aggressive, culminating in the season finale when she destroys Campbell's plane.
- Bullet Dodges You: She can stop bullets and shoot them back at those who fired them.
- Byronic Hero: For a while, she has struggled with her most vicious traits in wanting to create a better world, to the point where she joined the Inner Circle at the end of the first season.
- Cool Crown: Lorna had manipulated her father’s medallion into emerald green crown.
- Continuity Nod: Let's just say it's rare for her to not have a scene that invokes some aspect of either film or comic Magneto history.
- Daddy's Girl:
- She thought they lived in this town because she was being hidden from her birth father. Lorna realizes that she was being hidden for her father.
- She having manipulated her father’s medallion, dons a new, emerald green crown. She’s the spitting image of her dad, that’s for sure.
- Defector from Decadence: She covertly turns against Reeva, completely abandoning the Inner Circle by the near end of season 2 after spying for several episodes and learning the full extent of the leader's misdeeds.
- Determinator: She works through the pain of being punched in the face, kicked in the stomach, and her collar electrocuting her to use her powers to throw a table at her attacker.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": She insists upon being called Polaris every time Turner calls her by name.
- Double Agent: As soon as she realizes that Reeva is planning on triggering a cold-blooded human massacre, she begins contacting Marcos in secret, relaying him information, and together in a stakeout, they spot Reeva secretly working with Benedict Ryan, the pundit and key supporter of the Purifiers. Eventually she sneaks out of the Circle and returns to the Underground after learning of Reeva's plans.
- Emerald Power: Her hair is naturally green and when she's using her powers, her hair and eyes glow bright green.
- EMP: Disables a squadron of police cars during the first episode shootout this way. It also lets her knock out cell phone reception.
- Everyone Has Standards: There are a lot of things Polaris will do for a better world for mutant-kind, but she draws the line at senseless massacre, as she turns against Reeva in secret after the latter's recruiting of mass murderers brings home just how far the Inner Circle's plans go.
- Evil Costume Switch: When Lorna leaves the underground and joins the rebuilding Hellfire Club, she turns up dressed in black leather with a plunging v-neckline to recruit.
- Face–Heel Turn: She ends up joining the Hellfire Club in the Season 1 finale.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: She begins turning on Reeva in secret once she learns of the extremes the latter will go, but temporarily stays with the Inner Circle as a Double Agent, finally rejoining the Underground along with Andy once she is finished investigating at the end of the penultimate episode of season 2.
- If I Wanted You Dead...: She says this in as many words when Reed confronts her with an attempted murder rap over the police assault. To drive it home she manipulates surgical screws inside his leg.
- It Never Gets Any Easier: During her heart to heart with Andy, when the latter tells her that her destruction of Campbell's plane inspired him to join the Inner Circle, Lorna responds by telling him that every murder is a heavy burden to bear.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: She leaps off when she brings down Campbell's plane, killing him and everyone on board, including a US Senator. She climbs back somewhat after realizing how in deep she's gotten herself with the Inner Circle and returns to the Underground after staying on the other side to spy on Reeva's plans.
- Kicked Upstairs: She gets a promotion from Reeva as soon as the latter gets new recruits for her missions, as Reeva tells Polaris she is there to rebuild. This, however, is the point where Polaris, given the murderous nature of the new recruits, and by extension, Reeva's future plans, loses the last few bits of trust she had in the Circle's leader.
- Knight in Sour Armour: She lives in a world where people hate and fear her and all mutants just for what they are, but she fights to protect her people, sees the beauty and the joy in what they do, and wouldn't give up her powers to be accepted even if she could.
- Magnetism Manipulation: Her skillset involves the manipulation of magnetism.
- Mood-Swinger: She's bipolar and being on the run offers very little opportunity to seek treatment, resulting in this.
- My God, What Have I Done?: She has several of these moments as soon as she realizes how extreme and treacherous Reeva is: First, when Reeva recruits murderous mutants; then, when she and Marcos spot her collaborating with chief Purifier benefactor Benedict Ryan in the mutual interest of a human vs. mutant bloodbath; next, when she realizes the aforementioned murderous recruits are sent on covert missions such as the murder of the Mutant Underground leaders, including the murder of Evangeline Whedon, one of the people who saved her; inadvertently getting Sage implicated and killed by Reeva for security tampering that she herself was responsible for; and finally, Reeva's plans to go to war and learning that it was the destruction of Doctor Campbell's plane that inspired Andy to follow Lorna to the Inner Circle at the very moment she's trying to convince him to leave.
- Mythology Gag: She's kept in a plastic prison, and manipulates the metals inside a visitor's body. Sound familiar?
- Not Quite Flight: As shown in a flashback, she can levitate, but it's not quite the way the other magnetic mutant does it—rather, she makes fashion choices that involve a lot of metal and lifts what she's wearing.
- Not What I Signed Up For: At first she joins the Inner Circle fully believing what they're doing is right, but soon starts to have second thoughts, especially when Reeva recruits three mutants involved in an incident called 'The Ignavus Cruise Ship Massacre'. It's enough to make her realize the mistake she's made and begin spying on the Inner Circle for the Underground.
- Parental Substitute: She has become one to Andy in season 2, from helping him adjust to life in the Inner Circle, all the way to convincing him to return to the Underground with the full revelations of Reeva's treachery.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: She kills Dr. Campbell in the first season finale by destroying the charter jet on which he is flying.
- Personality Powers: Her powers have to do with polarity, and she herself is bipolar.
- Power Incontinence: In the second season, thanks to the 6-month Time Skip after the final of the first, we see Polaris completely lose control of her powers when she enters in labor, to the point of influencing the electric currents of an entire city.
- Pregnant Badass: Although not initially aware of it, she's a ferocious fighter, and her pregnancy doesn't inhibit this.
- Rage Within the Machine: The first step of turning back from the Inner Circle is acting from within on behalf of the Underground before she ultimately leaves.
- Superpowerful Genetics: She is a powerful mutant that controls everything that has to do with magnetism (and to a lesser extent also electromagnetism) just like Magneto, although she is much weaker than him.
- Surprise Pregnancy: Lorna's second Freak Out of the pilot episode stems from this when Strucker shows her her medical records, revealing that she's expecting a child, which is a complete shock to her.
- Token Good Teammate: Barring Andy, she is the most sympathetic of the Inner Circle during her time there, and becomes increasingly distrustful towards Reeva to the point that she begins covertly working against the latter.
- Took a Level in Badass: Towards the second part of the first season, her powers begin to grow exponentially and she becomes able to use them on greater distances and on much larger and heavier metallic targets. It is strongly implied that the cause of this sudden increase in power its to related in the child that carries in her womb.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: She nearly beats a cop to death after he shot Marcos.
- You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry!: Thunderbird and Eclipse all have more directly lethal powers but Polaris is the one who wants to fight police from the beginning and escalates to attempted murder when her lover Eclipse is wounded. Even when throwing metal she prefers disarms and "warning shots" but it's clear she's only doing that because she's not that angry or desperate at the moment. When she is, you don't want to be the reason why - just ask Campbell.
- Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Lorna is shocked to learn from Andy that destroying Doctor Campbell's plane, which was also carrying innocent people, inspired him to follow her into the Inner Circle, and she tries to convince him of the burden that murder places on the soul regardless of necessity.
Sonya Simonson/Dreamer
Sonya Simonson/Dreamer
Portrayed by: Elena Satine
A mutant with the ability to read and manipulate memories through a mist she exhales. She and John have a romantic history.
- Adaptation Name Change: In the comics, she was called Beautiful Dreamer, which obviously would have sounded very strange.
- All for Nothing: Campbell guns her down in cold blood while trying to force the Strucker kids to demonstrate their powers. Dreamer is Defiant to the End, telling them not to give him what he wants. However her death ends up meaningless when the kids give in to stop him from killing Clarice, as well. Now Campbell has exactly what he was looking for to permanently wipe out mutant kind.
- Anti-Hero: Is willing to Mind Rape Blink, and John indicates she has done this before, in order to save John and the group.
- Creepy Good: She is on the side of the Mutant Underground, but that doesn't stop her from being outright terrifying due to her powers and her supposedly innocent attire.
- Defiant to the End: She dies insisting that Lauren and Andy not give in to Campbell's demands.
- Fake Memories: She can implant fake memories unto others by exhaling a pink mist. It is supposed to last a few days and then be forgotten like a dream, but there are implications that this isn't always reliable.
- I Did What I Had to Do: She gives Blink her own memories of her time with John in order to give her the proper motivation and willpower to save him and the group from the mutant haters after them. John is not happy with this, but she argues it was the only way.
- Killed Off for Real: Shot in cold blood by Campbell to force the Strucker kids to comply with his demands and demonstrate their powers.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Another aspect of her power is to erase selected memories, either intentionally or by accident.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After Blink confronts her about mindraping her, Sonya seems really shaken up. She has the same moment with Turner once she learns that she accidentally wiped his memories of his daughter's death from his mind, forcing him to relive it all over again. The fact that he refuses to accept her sincere apology and that he wants her to suffer in retaliation only makes it worse.
- Named by the Adaptation: Her birth name is unknown in the comics, but is eventually revealed on the show as Sonya Simonson.
- Shout-Out: Her last name is a nod to Louise Simonson, the co-creator of her comic-book counterpart.
Harry/Trader
Harry/Trader
Portrayed by: Derek James Jones
A mutant with the ability to blend in with his environment.
- Distressed Dude: Due to the unexpected presence of Pulse, his powers start malfunctioning right when he checks out the situation in front of Sentinel Services agents. He gets shot in the stomach and is barely rescued by Dreamer. Caitlin and her kids rescue his life by the skin of their teeth via a very risky surgery.
- Perception Filter: His power allows him to make others think he's invisible, but he can't fool electronic surveillance. It's also implied there's a limit to how many people he can hide from at once, though he's good enough to hide from a small squad of Sentinel Services agents.
- Visible Invisibility: There's a noticeable distortion in his camouflage, which becomes obvious when he moves. He can apparently fool people but not cameras, and has trouble fooling many people at once. Still, Sentinel Services fails to notice until Pulse disrupts his powers.
Pedro
Pedro
Portrayed by: Dinarte De Freitas
The gate guardian of the Mutant Underground Headquarters.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Almost looks like Nightcrawler, but with a slightly lighter skin tone and a beard.
- Distressed Dude: Get's captured by the authorities in Season 2 after a battle with the Purifiers.
- Gate Guardian: His occupation in the Underground.
- The Quiet One: Only had one line yet, which was warning the Underground of approaching enemies.
- Superhero Packing Heat: Notably the only mutant who wears a firearm in addition to his powers.
- Supernatural Fear Inducer: His power is to create a fear field which is used to keep the Headquarters safe. Notably, it only works on humans, not other mutants. It can also be resisted if the target suspects they're being messed with.
Shatter
Shatter
"I guess, sometimes, the more you... reject the things you can't face, the worse you make it."
Portrayed by: Jermaine Rivers
"You know how I found out I was a mutant? I went to sleep one day a normal kid, and I woke up looking like this, and everything I touched was turning to crystal. It was terrifying. When I looked in that mirror, I saw a monster."
A mutant in crystallized state.
- Alien Blood: He bleeds black rocks when he is fatally shot and dies.
- Black Dude Dies First: Is the only causality of the Purifier raid on the Mutant Underground in Season 2.
- Bungled Suicide: He got a nasty scar and potentially became blind in his right eye after he tried to shoot himself.
- Gem Tissue: His body is covered in a hard, black crystalline substance.
- The Generic Guy: Aside from voicing concern a few times (for example about Reed staying at the compound after previously being tasked by Sentinel Services to sell them out), he hasn't had much character development yet.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Is killed to stall the Purifiers from rounding up more mutants.
- Noodle Incident: His prominent facial scarring suggests he took a bullet to the head at some point. In season 2 it's revealed he attempted to shoot himself.
- Put on a Bus: In the second season, he is mentioned to operate a cell of the Underground in Baltimore. He later returns to immediately get killed off.
- Touch of Death: He can convert anything he touches into tissue similar to his own body.
Naya
Naya
Portrayed by: Jessi Goei
A young mutant refugee with waterbending powers.
- Making a Splash: She has the ability to move and shape water. She demonstrated this ability by raising water from a vase, and forcefully slamming it down, shattering the aforementioned vase into many pieces.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Powerful, but never received any training before coming to the Underground, which is why she is then trained by Lorna.
Wes
Wes
Portrayed by: Danny Ramirez
A young mutant with the ability to create visual and auditory illusions.
- Adaptational Heroism: In the comics, Jason Wyngarde was a villain. Here, he's on the side of the Mutant Underground, fighting against the oppression and extermination of his kind in the hands of the government.
- Dark and Troubled Past: After being kicked out of his house for being a mutant he fell really low until he was recruited by a group who had him helping them running cons and stealing jewelry
- Expy: He's based on Jason Wyngarde, a.k.a. Mastermind, who already had a counterpart in the X-Men films in the form of Jason Stryker.
- Master of Illusion: He can create visual and auditory illusions.
- Put on a Bus: In "eXtreme measures" he's sent to another cell of the Underground. He comes back in "3 X 1", only to get right back on the bus in the next episode.
Evangeline Whedon
Evangeline Whedon
Portrayed by: Erinn Ruth
A lawyer for Mutant Rights with ties to the X-Men and secretly a part of the Underground.
- Crusading Lawyer: She is fighting for Mutant rights.
- Dropped a Bridge on Her: She falls victim to an assassination courtesy of the Inner Circle alongside with the entire rest of the Underground leadership, off-screen.
- Shapeshifting: She is shown able to transform her body into a red dragon.
- We Used to Be Friends: She and John are not on good terms after the Atlanta incident, as it caused a huge crackdown on several Mutant Underground bases. She also used to be friends with Erg.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: In the past, she convinced both Lorna and John to join the Underground to help a greater cause.
Cristina
Cristina
Portrayed by: Danube Hermosillo
A young mutant who has a younger sister named Jazmine and whose parents were killed during a Sentinel Services raid.
- Big Sister Instinct: She is very protective of her little sister Jazmine.
- Mind over Matter: She has telekinetic powers.
- Power Incontinence: She accidentally breaks things when she goes hysteric.
