Who is ANGEL?
ANGEL is Warren Worthington III, a wealthy individual gifted with the ability of flight due to his mutation of large bird-like wings. But his ANGELic look hides a dark side when he was experimented upon by an evil mutant and turned him into a lethal ANGEL of Death.
ANGEL is one of the original members of the X-Men. He was created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-creator Jack Kirby, he first appeared in X-Men (vol. 1) #1 (September 1963). A mutant, ANGEL originally possesses a pair of large feathered wings extending from his back, enabling him to fly. He is the heir and CEO of the multi-billion dollar Worthington Industries. This privileged background results in Warren being stereotyped as an arrogant and self-absorbed playboy during his early years with the X-Men. This personality was ultimately replaced with a more introspective and brooding personality in the late 1980s, when the character was revamped into the more grim and gritty "ArchANGEL" persona.
CHANGING LOOKS
X-Men First Class
ANGEL first appeared wearing a standard training uniform by Professor Charles Xavier.
Slightly altered first class costume with red belt
2nd X-Men costume
Later on Professor X allowed his X-Men to wear individualize costumes.
AVENGING ANGEL
Warren did not start his costumed crimefighting career as ANGEL of the X-Men, but as the stun gun wielding Avenging ANGEL.
ANGEL Blue White Suit
Finding himself unconscious in the Savage Land ANGEL was a given new suit by mysterious individual, who turned out to be Magneto. It was discovered later that the costume was leeching Warren’s mutagenic energies for Magneto to use.
Champion
When he first left the X-Men, he founded a new team of superheroes, called the Champions. He wore a new costume that no longer hid his face.
Defender
ANGEL's first Champion's costume was torn in a fight. He had a replacement costume that bears resemblance to a previous version but colored differently. After when he moved on to his next super team the Defenders, he continued wearing this costume.
X-Factor
ANGEL with the other original X-Men reunited, and came up with the idea of X-Factor. They acted as a mutant hunting group, while secretly they were helping mutants to handle their powers. Warren wore a backpack that seemed like a hi-tech equipment, but actually was hiding his wings. In situations that required the use of their powers, the team used the cover identities of the X-Terminators along with a new set of costumes.
X-Factor costume
X-Terminator costume
DEATH
ANGEL was kidnapped by Apocalypse, who remodeled the mutant in his own image. Warren’s skin turned blue and he was given metallic wings to replace his old ones. When he was serving as the Horseman, called Death, he wore a metallic helmet resembling a skull.
ARCHANGEL
When ANGEL broke free from Apocalypse, he rejoined his teammates and soon was renamed ArchANGEL. He continued to wear the blue and purple costume for quite some time.
ARCHANGEL in classic ANGEL costume
Later on ANGEL, still having the metallic wings returned to wearing his classic costumes,both the red and blue costume. Surprisingly, his feather wings grew back underneath the metal ones, but his skin remained its blue hue.
Big X costume
ANGEL took some time away from the X-Men to care for his injured lover Psylocke and to devote more time to Worthington Enterprises. Though he accompanied them in some missions, while with the X-Men he sported a costume that had a big X across the chest area and was made from some form of armor.
Leather Uniform
When he returned to full active status,he wore the new leather outfit uniform of the X-Men.
Warrior Look
An encounter with a mutant who tried to suck the life out of him, caused an unusual side effect that allowed ANGEL to manifest his secondary ability of healing. His skin tone returned to his usual color. Warren also settled for an entirely new look.
X-Force
ANGEL later on with Wolverine forms the lethal arm of the X-Men. He has now the ability to transform from his ANGEL form to his more lethal alter-ego, ARCHANGEL.
LIVE MEDIA APPEARANCE
ANGEL's one and only appearance in live media is in the 2006 feature film X-Men: The Last Stand, where he is played by Ben Foster. In the film ANGEL is a young man in his early twenties, the son of a rich industrialist who is motivated by his son's mutation to create a "cure" for mutants.
POWERS & ABILITIES
Note: Due to the nature of comicbooks being an on-going tale, the character's powers along with his appearance, is in a constant state of flux.
ANGEL possessed the superhuman ability to fly by means of his natural wings, which spanned 16 feet sixteen feet from wingtip to wingtip. He later lost his wings, due to infection and amputation, but has regrown identical techno-organic wings. Fully feathered like a bird's, the wings have a very flexible skeletal structure, enabling him to press them to the back of his torso and legs with only the slightest bulge visible under his clothing.
ANGEL's entire anatomy is naturally adapted to flying. His bones are hollow like a birds, making him weigh far less than usual for a man of his build. His body is virtually devoid of fat and possesses greater proportionate muscle mass than an ordinary human does. His eyes are specially adapted to withstand high-speed winds which would hurt the average human eye. He possesses a special membrane in his respiratory system enabling him to extract oxygen from the air at high velocities or altitudes.
Due to his body's natural mutation, the ANGEL possesses greater physical strength than an ordinary human equal to him in body weight and can lift about 500 lbs.
The ANGEL's musculature produces less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of an ordinary human. He can physically exert himself at peak capacity for several hours before the build up of fatigue toxins in his blood begins to impair him. His physical stamina while in flight is considerably greater.
The tissues of ANGEL's body are somewhat harder and more durable than that of an ordinary human, though he is far from invulnerable. While he can be injured in ways comparable to an ordinary human, his body is structured to withstand the friction caused by flying at high speeds. He can also withstand impact forces that would severely injure or kill an ordinary human with only mild to moderate discomfort.
ANGEL possesses an accelerated healing factor that enables him to repair damaged tissue with much greater speed and efficiency than an ordinary human. He can completely recover from non-fatal injuries such as slash and punctures within a matter of hours and injuries as severe as broken bones within a few days. This ability extends to being transferred by blood, thus he can heal others who come into contact with his blood, provided they have the same blood type.
ANGEL's normal cruising speed averages around 70 miles per hour , though he is capable of diving swoops that reach up to 180 miles per hour. He can fly at 150 miles per hour without the help of a tail wind for up to half an hour at a time before tiring to an appreciable degree. Though he generally flies beneath the height of the clouds he can reach a height of 10,000 feet with little effort. With severe strain he can attain the highest recorded altitude of a bird in flight , but he could only remain that high for several minutes.
Techno-Organic Wings: ANGEL was given techno-organic wings by Apocalypse as part of his conversion to the Horseman Death. Those wings enabled him to fly approximately at Mach 1 as well as being razor-sharp and able to shield his body by covering up. Its flechettes could be thrown as weapons, some of which were were covered in a neurological agent that could stun a foe. Eventually, those wings molted revealing feathered wings underneath, although, it was later told that those simply appeared organic. Later, after his apparent organic wings were lost for a second time, the techno-organic wings regrew and his blue skin color returned. After killing those who took his organic wings, he reverted to his original ANGEL form. It's since been revealed that under stress his ArchANGEL abilities can return, though he lacks complete control over this more aggressive form.
AbilitiesExpert Combatant: ArchANGEL is a skilled combatant, especially in aerial hand-to-hand combat.
Business Sense: He is a talented businessman whose wealth ranks him in the lower part of the Fortune 500 list.
sources : http://www.uncannyxmen.net/db/spotlight/showquestion.asp?faq=10&fldAuto=100&page=2 : http://www.uncannyxmen.net/db/spotlight/showquestion.asp?faq=10&fldAuto=100&page=9 : http://www.comicvine.com/archangel/29-2112/ : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Worthington_III : http://marvel.wikia.com/Warren_Worthington_III_(Earth-616) : http://www.coverbrowser.com/covers/uncanny-x-men
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