Genosha

Genosha
Marvel Comics location
Flag of Genosha from X-Men '97
First appearance	The Uncanny X-Men #235 (October 1988)
Created by	Chris Claremont Rick Leonardi
In-universe information
Type	African country
Race(s)	Humans, Mutants
Locations	Hammer Bay, Ridgeback Mountains, Carrion Cave
Characters	Genoshans

Genosha (/dʒəˈnoʊʃə, ɡəˈ-/ jə-NOH-shə, gə-) is a fictional country appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is an island nation that exists in the Marvel Universe and a prominent location in the X-Men comics. The fictional nation served as an allegory for slavery and later for South African apartheid before becoming a mutant homeland and subsequently a disaster zone. The island is located off the southeastern African coast southwest from Seychelles and northeast of Madagascar. Its capital city was Hammer Bay.

Publication history

Genosha, a significant location in the Marvel Universe, first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #235 in 1988. The island nation was created by Rick Leonardi and Chris Claremont, who used it as an allegory for apartheid-era South Africa, portraying a society where mutants were subjugated and transformed into mindless "mutates" by a brutal regime led by the Genegineer, David Moreau. This portrayal of Genosha highlighted issues of oppression and exploitation, resonating with themes of racial and social injustice.

Initially depicted as a paradise with a dark underbelly, Genosha was ruled by a government that treated mutants as second-class citizens, exploiting them as slave labor. The nation's early stories drew parallels to real-world issues of apartheid, reflecting Claremont's intention to use the X-Men comics as a platform for exploring complex social and political issues. The island's story evolved dramatically over time. In Uncanny X-Men #255 (1989), the depiction of Genosha expanded to show the nation descending into civil war, with mutants and "normal" humans locked in a violent conflict, reminiscent of the ethnic conflicts in Bosnia during the 1990s. This civil war storyline deepened Genosha's role in the X-Men mythos as a symbol of the broader struggles faced by mutants.

Magneto, the X-Men's long-time adversary, was later granted control of Genosha by the United Nations in an attempt to deter him from further aggression against humanity. Under Magneto's rule, the island became a sanctuary for mutants, but this was short-lived. In New X-Men #115 (2001), Cassandra Nova, the evil twin of Charles Xavier, unleashed a devastating Sentinel attack on Genosha, wiping out most of its population.

Fictional country history

Mutant apartheid

The island is located off the east coast of Africa, to the north of Madagascar, and boasted a high standard of living, an excellent economy, and freedom from the political and racial turmoil that characterized neighboring nations. However, Genosha's prosperity was built upon the enslavement of its mutant population. Mutants in Genosha were the property of the state and children who were positively identified with the mutant gene were put through a process developed by David Moreau, commonly known as the Genegineer, stripped of free will and made into "mutates" (a Marvel term for genetically modified individuals, as opposed to those who developed mutant powers naturally). The Genegineer was also capable of modifying certain mutant abilities in order to fulfill specific labor shortages. Citizenship in Genosha is permanent and the government does not recognize any emigration. Citizens who attempt to leave the country are tracked down and forcibly brought back to the island by the special force known as Press Gang. The Press Gang consisted of Hawkshaw, Pipeline, and Punchout, and were aided in their task by Wipeout. Mutant problems are handled by a special group known as the Magistrates. The foundations of Genoshan society have been upset in recent years due to the efforts of outside mutant interests. In the first storyline to feature the nation, some members of the X-Men (Wolverine, Rogue, and their ally Madelyne Pryor) were kidnapped by Genoshan Magistrates, under the order of the Genegineer. Later, in the multi-issue, multi-title X-Tinction Agenda storyline, the X-Men and their allies rescued their teammates, Storm, Meltdown, Rictor and Wolfsbane, from Genoshan brainwashing, toppling the government after discovering their alliance with former X-Factor ally turned mutant hater, Cameron Hodge, and that Havok was one of the Magistrates since having his memory wiped by the Siege Perilous. Havok himself, woken from his conditioning by his brother Cyclops, dealt the killing blow to Cameron Hodge in the process.

Conflict and Magneto's reign

A new Genoshan regime that promised better treatment of mutants was put in place after Hodge's destruction. A period of general turmoil and a number of attacks by superhumans, including Magneto's Acolytes who were unwilling to forgive the former Genoshan government for its crimes against mutants, followed.(X-Men vol. 2 #1 1991)

A different version of X-Factor, including Wolfsbane, later returned to the island to help restore peace between its government and a rogue group of super-powered beings that had fled the island. The Genoshan government was shown with peaceful intentions, even trying to undo the ill effects visited upon Wolfsbane. Genosha was also shown to have typical suburban tract housing, like many small towns in America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

After the "Age of Apocalypse" story arc, it was revealed and retconned that the mutate process formula was given to the Genegineer by Sugar Man, a refugee of the Age of Apocalypse timeline.

The United Nations ceded the island nation to the powerful mutant Magneto, after he demanded an entire mutants-only nation. Magneto and his Acolytes managed to reestablish a modicum of peace and stability only briefly until civil war broke out between him and the remaining human population on the island led by the Magistrates. Magneto eventually defeated the Magistrates and restored order to most of the island, with hold-outs briefly remaining at Carrion Cove before being obliterated.

The elimination of the Legacy Virus gave Magneto a freshly healthy army, leading him to declare a campaign of global conquest. A small team of X-Men stopped this plan, badly injuring Magneto in the process (the original issue presented him as being killed, but this was retconned in the New X-Men comic book series).

Genosha had a population of sixteen million mutants and a stable, advanced society. However, the entire island was reduced to rubble and its mutant population was slain by Cassandra Nova's Wild Sentinels. There were few survivors, many evacuated, and the Brotherhood of Mutants turned one of the Sentinels into a memorial statue.

Xavier's leadership

Magneto and Xavier have since then joined forces to rebuild the island nation as detailed in the series Excalibur vol. 3 (2004). This goes badly as foreign military forces have thrown up a cordon around the island; no one is allowed to enter, and those trying to leave are fired upon.

A few survivors and newly arriving mutants who wish to help with the rebuilding process remain on the island. Members of this volunteer 'army' include Callisto, Freakshow and Wicked. More are found in the surrounding countryside, some join with Xavier. There is a conflict with Magistrates, the island's former law enforcement. Though they are assisted by humanoid creatures they refer to as 'trolls', the Magistrates' forces are driven off. Some of the Magistrates are captured and kept in the island's makeshift jail.

Some of the captured Magistrates agree to work with Xavier to rebuild the island. Throughout the entire series, Unus the Untouchable and his squadron of mutants remain a problem; they do not wish to be part of Xavier's group.

House of M

Main article: House of M

Later, Magneto learned of his daughter the Scarlet Witch's nervous break-down and her ever-growing powers to alter reality. Magneto snatched Wanda from her battle with her fellow Avengers and brought her to Genosha, where he asked Xavier to restore the Scarlet Witch's sanity - but to no avail. The telepath couldn't help her and, concerned of the threat to reality that Wanda posed, Xavier consulted the Avengers and the X-Men about what to do with her. Their decision was rendered moot, though, as by the time they reached Genosha reality altered around the heroes - changing into the world ruled by the House of M.

While conventional reality was eventually restored, it came at a high price, as thousands if not millions of Earth's mutant population lost their powers or died in the process, leaving only a few hundred mutants alive and powered. Just like most of his new Genoshan allies and enemies, Magneto was among the depowered people, remaining trapped on the island.

Son of M and the Collective Incident

In the limited series Son of M, there is a battle between some of the remaining mutants and the Inhumans.

In The New Avengers #19-20 it was stated that energy cannot be created or destroyed, and the same held true for the energies of the numerous depowered mutants. Eventually, these energies gathered in the form of an unsuspecting energy-absorbing mutant named Michael Pointer. Dubbed "the Collective" by the Avengers, against whom he then fought, the Collective traveled to Genosha and reached out to the startled Magneto. The Collective, controlled by Xorn, attempted to restore Magneto's powers and convince him to lead the remaining mutants into taking over the planet. To the Collective's surprise, Magneto resisted and allowed the Avengers to separate the energy from his body and send it into the sun. The comatose Magneto is also taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, but the helicopter that was supposed to transport him off Genosha explodes once it lifts off. Magneto's body is not found. It has since been revealed that he survived the explosion and remained depowered until the High Evolutionary's dangerous experiment returned his magnetic abilities.

Silent War

Main article: Silent War

To date Genosha is now completely dead. Already in ruins before, the battle between the Inhumans and the O*N*E further destroyed the once-proud island nation during the Silent War.

Since Magneto was the last person on Genosha, it seems that it's now totally uninhabited, which is corroborated by Wiccan and Speed when they began their search for their mother, the Scarlet Witch. They encountered Genosha an empty land filled with destroyed towers and empty streets.

Necrosha and beyond

Main article: Necrosha

Selene is seen traveling to the ruined island of Genosha with her followers who were resurrected by the Technarch transmode virus, led there by Blink and Caliban, who tells Selene he senses millions of dead mutants. They enter the ruins and Selene proclaims Hammer Bay, the devastated capital of the island nation Necrosha, the place where she will become a god.

With Eli Bard, Selene resurrects the massacred residents of Genosha, with Cerebro and Bastion's computers detecting the rise of mutant numbers into the millions. A problem presents itself in that many of the newly resurrected mutants have been de-powered, despite having been killed before M-Day. Wither and Mortis explain what happened and the Coven begins to set up base at Necrosha.

Selene is eventually defeated and killed, thus ending the effect of the corrupted Techno-organic virus in the bodies she revived and returning Genosha to an empty land. According to writer Chris Yost, Elixir is still on Necrosha.

During a visit to Genosha by the students of Jean Grey's School for Gifted Youngsters' students organized by Beast and Kitty Pryde, Sabretooth and AOA Blob assaulted Kid Gladiator and Kid Omega in order to kidnap Genesis. During this time, there were no mentioning of Elixir living here.

During the AXIS storyline, Magneto enters the island of Genosha to find that it had turned into a concentration camp for mutants. He frees two mutant girls who tell him that Red Skull is responsible and possesses Professor X's brain. Magneto attacks Red Skull, but is quickly stopped by the Skull's S-Men. Magneto is captured and telepathically tortured by Red Skull. He is given visions of those closest to him suffering while being unable to do anything to stop it. After being freed by Scarlet Witch, Rogue, and Havok, he bites down on a vial beneath his skin of Mutant Growth Hormone, giving himself enough power to fight. Havok, Rogue, and Scarlet Witch are captured by the Red Skull's S-Men and sent to his concentration camp in Genosha. Rogue (who still has Wonder Man inside her) is able to break the group free. They discover Magneto has been captured, and free him, as well. The three want to leave the island and alert the rest of the Avengers and X-Men of what Red Skull is doing, but Magneto says he's going to stay and fight. Before they can do anything, Red Skull appears. Magneto, Rogue, and the Scarlet Witch fought Red Onslaught in Genosha and are later joined by the Avengers and the X-Men. Iron Man used a telepathic tamperer to stop the Red Skull's influence. When more heroes arrived to help, Red Onslaught revealed that he influenced Stark to create a model of Sentinels, based on the knowledge of different super heroes he acquired after the Civil War before erasing the latter's memories of constructing them. Red Onslaught then deployed his Stark Sentinels to fight the heroes.

All-New, All-Different Marvel

As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel, Magneto and his Uncanny X-Men use Genosha as a staging ground for an ambush on the Dark Riders, who have been targeting mutants with healing powers. After defeating the Dark Riders, Magneto then ties up the Dark Riders and sets off a bomb that kills them and also levels the entire island. It was a sign that Magneto has "no intention of 'Laying Low'."

Empyre

During the Empyre storyline, some of the Cotati used Genosha as a front for their upcoming invasion of Wakanda. This was foiled because of the X-Men, Hordeculture, and the Genoshan zombies that are the results of Scarlet Witch trying to revive the mutants that were killed there.

Other versions

• A prison inspired by Guantánamo Bay called "Genosha Bay" appears in the Marvel Noir story X-Men Noir: Mark of Cain #1. Originally founded by Quaker missionaries who sought to isolate their prisoners from each other so they could contemplate their sins, Genosha Bay would eventually become an extraterritorial United States prison infamous for holding notorious international prisoners and employing inhumane punishments, such as sleep deprivation and water torture. By the 1930s, the U.S. government secretly began recruiting prisoners to serve as government operatives while using the cover of a public judiciary meeting meant to close it being held up by lawmakers unwilling to release its most dangerous prisoners to obscure their true intentions.
• An alternate universe iteration of Genosha appears in stories set in the Ultimate Marvel imprint. This version of the island is located south of Madagascar near Krakoa and controlled by Mojo Adams. Additionally, its primary export is television programs such as Hunt for Justice while mutants are treated as second-class citizens after Longshot murdered government minister Lord Joseph Scheele.

In other media

Television

• Genosha appears in X-Men: The Animated Series as the creation of Bolivar Trask, Cameron Hodge, Henry Peter Gyrich, and a government official known as "the Leader", who advertise the island as a mutant paradise so they can capture mutants, outfit them with power-negating collars, and use them as slave labor to build Sentinels. Eventually, Cable, the X-Men, Magneto, and his Acolytes free the slaves, who are subsequently relocated to Asteroid M, and destroy the Sentinels.
• Genosha appears in Wolverine and the X-Men. This version of the island is ruled over by Magneto, who received it from Senator Robert Kelly, and is open to all mutants. While he promises sanctuary, Magneto secretly and unfairly imprisons dissenters and rule breakers. In the three-part series finale "Foresight", Magneto tasks Mystique with disguising herself as Kelly and ordering a Sentinel attack on Genosha to instigate a human-mutant war, only to face complications from the Phoenix Force. After Emma Frost sends it back into space, Magneto's followers lose faith in him and banish him from Genosha. In a possible future depicted in the episode "Badlands", Genosha was destroyed by the Phoenix Force, with Polaris as the sole survivor.
• Genosha appears in X-Men '97. In the episodes "Mutant Liberation Begins" and "Remember It", the United Nations discuss integrating Genosha before eventually doing so. Additionally, as of the latter episode, Madelyne Pryor, Banshee, Moira MacTaggert, Callisto, Emma Frost, and Sebastian Shaw have become the country's ruling council before Genosha is destroyed by Sentinels sent by Bastion.

Film

• Genosha appears in X-Men (2000) as an uncharted island where Magneto and his Brotherhood have established a base for themselves.
• Genosha appears in Dark Phoenix as a mutant refuge run by Magneto, which he received from the U.S. government.

Video games

• Genoshan Sentinel mines appear in Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge via Cyclops' levels.
• Genosha appears in X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse as a prison run by Apocalypse.
• Genosha appears as a stage in X-Men: Children of the Atom.
• Genosha makes a cameo appearance in X-Men: Next Dimension.
• Genosha appears in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, in which it is devastated by Apocalypse.
• Genosha appears in Deadpool, in which it was abandoned sometime prior before Mister Sinister took over to use it as a repository of mutant genetic material for his experiments.

Music

• Genosha serves as the namesake for Genosha Recordings, an experimental hardcore/gabber/darkcore label run by The Outside Agency.
• A song named after Genosha appears in Judgement Day's album, Peacocks/Pink Monsters.

Miscellaneous

Genosha has been compared to the Confederate States of America in an article by The Atlantic.

External links

• Genosha at Marvel.com
• Genosha at Marvel Wiki
• Genosha at Comic Vine
• Genosha at UncannyXmen.net