Alistaire Stuart
Encyclopedia
Alistaire Stuart is a fictional character
appearing in the Marvel Comics
universe
. He is a scientist, an ally of the superhero
team Excalibur
and head of MI-13, an intelligence agency. He first appeared in Excalibur #6 and was created by Chris Claremont
and Alan Davis
.
are the founders of the Weird Happenings Organisation (W.H.O.). The W.H.O. is a British intelligence agency to investigate paranormal and superhuman activity and combat any superhuman threats by combining Alistaire's scientific knowledge with Alysande's military skills.
While investigating the disappearance of doctor Moira MacTaggert
and the appearance of a Moira MacTaggert from a parallel universe
, Alistaire meets Kitty Pryde, a member of Excalibur
. Kitty introduces Alistaire to Excalibur and to her disappointment, Alistaire is more interested in Kitty's friend Rachel Summers
. Alistaire, Alysande and the W.H.O. become loyal allies to Excalibur. Alistaire's many visits with the team involve him involved multiple odd occurrences, mainly concerning alternate realities somehow being connected to the lighthouse headquarters. Once such incident leads to him unintentionally seeing Kitty Pryde completely naked.
allows the team to return home. Kitty is later discovered whole and healthy.
attacks, with the intention of neutralizing the cosmic power of Rachel Summers. Alistaire has Rachel take him back down to the lighthouse basement, where his long-term temporary home, the train, now is. On their way they discover the lighthouse is more than it seems, as they encounter a half-animal rock band version of the main Excalibur group. Rachel also gets another telepathic flash as to how he feels for her. Alistaire eventually finds (in his own pocket) a small device, gained after a discussion of 'trans-temporal relativity dynamics with some chap from Gallifrey
'. Alistaire attempts to use the device to send Galactus to the farthest reaches of space and time. His attempt completely fails. The very embodiment of Death itself saves Rachel.
, an ancient spirit tied into the very earth itself, had gone mad from various environmental degradations. The Green Knight begins a campaign of revenge, killing amoral business executives and dozens of innocent fast-food patrons. Stuart is brought in to investigate the situation.
who had arrived to assist Excalibur in their quest.
Alistaire assists the team when they must battle the evil sorcerer Necrom
. He becomes involved in the dimensional displacements taking place throughout the entirety of the team's headquarters, many of which manifest alternate versions of Alistaire himself.
, but she dies before the investigation is complete. She had been killed by Jaime Braddock, the evil brother of Captain Britain, who takes some time to defeat. S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury
meets Alistaire at the funeral and tells him that his sister was framed. Alistaire investigates the matter and finds out that the R.C.X.
, another government agency, framed Alysande so that W.H.O. is weakened and the R.C.X. can take control of its resources. R.C.X. personally kidnaps Alistaire, trying to bring him around to their point of view. It turns out R.C.X is basing its power on dozens of super-powered children, who, together, are capable of many things, such as crafting a headquarters in days. A telepathic child, 'Beetroot', briefly shares a link with Alistaire, showing him how R.C.X. mistreats and abuses its charges. The child dies moments later and Alistaire, infuriated, lands a powerful punch right in Smythe's face. Even though the man was surrounded by super-human guards. Later, with the help of Excalibur the R.C.X. is defeated.
begins its rise to power. Black Air competes with the R.C.X. and W.H.O., often with violence. As leader of the W.H.O., Alistaire knows too much about Black Air and is targeted by them for assassination. He flees the country and travels to the United States. There, he makes his way to the X-Mansion
and asks the X-Men
to contact Excalibur. Meanwhile, Excalibur has had its own problems with Black Air and promises to bring Alistaire home. Excalibur uses the information they have gathered on Black Air to expose Black Air's crimes and Black Air is forced underground. Alistaire Stuart is appointed head of a new department to replace W.H.O., Black Air, and the R.C.X. This new department is known as MI-13 or simply "the Department".
Some time after MI-13 is formed, Stuart is confronted by Pete Wisdom, who challenges him regarding a secret base, a dissection unit on the Essex
coast that has been in existence since the 19th century and has recently been used by Black Air. Wisdom maintains that, as head of the Department, Stuart must be aware of the base - and has chosen not to close it, which Wisdom sees as a betrayal of his principles. Alistaire Stuart neither confirms nor denies these assertions; an explosion arranged by Wisdom then destroys the base.
. Stuart is called in to control the scene when it is confirmed that the London Eye
has been rigged with two bombs and a nuclear explosive. The X-Men, having legal standing at the time, ignore Stuart's orders to stand down. The nuclear bomb is removed and neutralized. Afterwards, Stuart removes his jacket and sits on a curb with the X-Men, discussing the situation.
Following the arrival of another dimensional Martian
craft, Stuart decided MI-13 would not be able to handle such situations and switched affiliations to MI6, assisting in their attempts to stop a Martian invasion and keep MI-13 in the dark. He has come around to their view that the specifically created "weird happenings organizations" (a blanket term MI6 used for all similar groups) never last and will never last. He was shown to be at odds with his former ally Pete Wisdom, who viewed Stuart as having betrayed him by switching organizations. During this adventure, Stuart was depicted as an old man. This was later explained as being the result of an off-panel confrontation with Morgan la Fay
, that left him with a mutable form.
Stuart continues to assist the government in matter of a superhero nature such as with Britain's Superhuman Registration Act. During the "Skrull invasion
" England is invaded by an army of Skrulls, seeking to conquer and wrest magical power. Due to so many members of England's government being replaced by Skrulls, Stuart ends up as one of the de facto
leaders of the resistance movement. Ultimately, a forced deal with Satannish
kills all Skrulls inside of the British Isles.
Cursed by Morgan Le Fay, Stuart physical appearance became mutable while he also developed an intuition about magical changes.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
appearing in the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
. He is a scientist, an ally of the superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
team Excalibur
Excalibur (comics)
Excalibur is a Marvel Comics superhero group, an off-shoot of the X-Men, usually based in the United Kingdom. Conceived by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer Alan Davis, the original Excalibur first appeared in Excalibur Special Edition , also known as Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn.The...
and head of MI-13, an intelligence agency. He first appeared in Excalibur #6 and was created by Chris Claremont
Chris Claremont
Chris Claremont is an award-winning American comic book writer and novelist, known for his 17-year stint on Uncanny X-Men, far longer than any other writer, during which he is credited with developing strong female characters, and with introducing complex literary themes into superhero...
and Alan Davis
Alan Davis
Alan Davis is an English writer and artist of comic books, known for his work on titles such as Captain Britain, The Uncanny X-Men, ClanDestine, Excalibur, JLA: The Nail and JLA: Another Nail.-UK work:...
.
Fictional character biography
Doctor Alistaire Stuart and his sister, Brigadier Alysande StuartAlysande Stuart
Alysande Stuart is a fictional character appearing in X-Men stories in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in Excalibur #6 and was created by Chris Claremont and Alan Davis...
are the founders of the Weird Happenings Organisation (W.H.O.). The W.H.O. is a British intelligence agency to investigate paranormal and superhuman activity and combat any superhuman threats by combining Alistaire's scientific knowledge with Alysande's military skills.
While investigating the disappearance of doctor Moira MacTaggert
Moira MacTaggert
Dr. Moira Kinross MacTaggert is a fictional character appearing in X-Men stories in the Marvel Comics universe. She works as a geneticist and is an expert in mutant affairs. Olivia Williams played a minor role of Dr. Moira MacTaggert in X-Men: The Last Stand...
and the appearance of a Moira MacTaggert from a parallel universe
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
, Alistaire meets Kitty Pryde, a member of Excalibur
Excalibur (comics)
Excalibur is a Marvel Comics superhero group, an off-shoot of the X-Men, usually based in the United Kingdom. Conceived by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer Alan Davis, the original Excalibur first appeared in Excalibur Special Edition , also known as Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn.The...
. Kitty introduces Alistaire to Excalibur and to her disappointment, Alistaire is more interested in Kitty's friend Rachel Summers
Rachel Summers
Rachel Anne Summers is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne for Marvel Comics....
. Alistaire, Alysande and the W.H.O. become loyal allies to Excalibur. Alistaire's many visits with the team involve him involved multiple odd occurrences, mainly concerning alternate realities somehow being connected to the lighthouse headquarters. Once such incident leads to him unintentionally seeing Kitty Pryde completely naked.
Cross-Time Caper
Alistaire accompanies the team during their unwilling journey across parallel universes known as the Cross-Time Caper. He and the team were on the train brought from an alternate universe by Widget. Many factors, including the interaction of Widget and the alternate Moira MacTaggert, throw the train into its first of many realities. He shares the team's many adventures across dozens of realities, often finding time to take pictures. They travel from realm to realm inside the train, powered by the interaction between Widget and Rachel. Alistaire finds time for a romantic fling with an alternate Captain Britain. This later leads to Stuart actually being killed, along with most of the team. He is revived by Meggan and Rachel, who tap into the immense magical energies that this specific alternate reality contains. The latter half of the 'Caper' is mentally draining on all of them, as despair sets in, made even more so by the seeming loss of Kitty. Eventually the intervention of the vastly powerful SaturnyneSaturnyne
Opal Luna Saturnyne is the name of a fictional comic book character created by Dave Thorpe and Alan Davis for their Captain Britain stories. She is the Omniversal Majestrix of Otherworld, and a servant of Roma, charged with the safety of the Omniverse....
allows the team to return home. Kitty is later discovered whole and healthy.
Versus Galactus
Right as the team is returning home after the Cross-Time Caper, GalactusGalactus
Galactus is a fictional character appearing in comic books and other publications published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character debuted in Fantastic Four #48 , the first of a three-issue story later known as "The Galactus...
attacks, with the intention of neutralizing the cosmic power of Rachel Summers. Alistaire has Rachel take him back down to the lighthouse basement, where his long-term temporary home, the train, now is. On their way they discover the lighthouse is more than it seems, as they encounter a half-animal rock band version of the main Excalibur group. Rachel also gets another telepathic flash as to how he feels for her. Alistaire eventually finds (in his own pocket) a small device, gained after a discussion of 'trans-temporal relativity dynamics with some chap from Gallifrey
Gallifrey
Gallifrey is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and is the homeworld of the Doctor and the Time Lords...
'. Alistaire attempts to use the device to send Galactus to the farthest reaches of space and time. His attempt completely fails. The very embodiment of Death itself saves Rachel.
The Knights Of Pendragon
Stuart guest-stars in the related series The Knights of Pendragon. The Green KnightGreen Knight
The Green Knight is a character in the 14th-century Arthurian poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the related work The Greene Knight. His true name is revealed to be Bercilak de Hautdesert in Sir Gawain, while The Greene Knight names him "Bredbeddle"...
, an ancient spirit tied into the very earth itself, had gone mad from various environmental degradations. The Green Knight begins a campaign of revenge, killing amoral business executives and dozens of innocent fast-food patrons. Stuart is brought in to investigate the situation.
Other heroes
Alistaire is entrusted with 'house' sitting when Excalibur must visit Limbo itself to save all of England. He gets to meet the West Coast AvengersWest Coast Avengers
The West Coast Avengers is a fictional group of superheroes that appear in publications published by Marvel Comics. The team first appear in The West Coast Avengers #1 and was created by Roger Stern and Bob Hall.- Publication history :...
who had arrived to assist Excalibur in their quest.
Alistaire assists the team when they must battle the evil sorcerer Necrom
Necrom
Necrom is a fictional character created by Alan Davis forMarvel Comics. Necrom was a powerful sorcerer and an enemy of Excalibur.-Fictional character biography:...
. He becomes involved in the dimensional displacements taking place throughout the entirety of the team's headquarters, many of which manifest alternate versions of Alistaire himself.
Loss of a sister
Alysande is later accused of selling classified information to S.H.I.E.L.D.S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage and a secret military law-enforcement agency in the Marvel Comics Universe. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Strange Tales #135 , it often deals with superhuman threats....
, but she dies before the investigation is complete. She had been killed by Jaime Braddock, the evil brother of Captain Britain, who takes some time to defeat. S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury
Nick Fury
Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury is a fictional World War II army hero and present-day super-spy in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, Fury first appeared in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 , a World War II combat series that portrayed the...
meets Alistaire at the funeral and tells him that his sister was framed. Alistaire investigates the matter and finds out that the R.C.X.
R.C.X.
The Resources Control Executive is a fictional British intelligence agency in the Marvel Comics universe. It first appeared in Captain Britain vol...
, another government agency, framed Alysande so that W.H.O. is weakened and the R.C.X. can take control of its resources. R.C.X. personally kidnaps Alistaire, trying to bring him around to their point of view. It turns out R.C.X is basing its power on dozens of super-powered children, who, together, are capable of many things, such as crafting a headquarters in days. A telepathic child, 'Beetroot', briefly shares a link with Alistaire, showing him how R.C.X. mistreats and abuses its charges. The child dies moments later and Alistaire, infuriated, lands a powerful punch right in Smythe's face. Even though the man was surrounded by super-human guards. Later, with the help of Excalibur the R.C.X. is defeated.
Black Air
Shortly afterwards, another intelligence agency, Black AirBlack Air
Black Air is a fictional former Governmental Intelligence department founded and operating primarily within the United Kingdom in the Marvel Universe, initially as an adjunct to the Ministry of Defence...
begins its rise to power. Black Air competes with the R.C.X. and W.H.O., often with violence. As leader of the W.H.O., Alistaire knows too much about Black Air and is targeted by them for assassination. He flees the country and travels to the United States. There, he makes his way to the X-Mansion
X-Mansion
In the fictional Marvel Comics universe, the X-Mansion is the common name for Professor Xavier's mansion. It is the base of operations and training site of the X-Men and the location of a school for mutant teenagers, the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, formerly Xavier's School for Gifted...
and asks the X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
to contact Excalibur. Meanwhile, Excalibur has had its own problems with Black Air and promises to bring Alistaire home. Excalibur uses the information they have gathered on Black Air to expose Black Air's crimes and Black Air is forced underground. Alistaire Stuart is appointed head of a new department to replace W.H.O., Black Air, and the R.C.X. This new department is known as MI-13 or simply "the Department".
Some time after MI-13 is formed, Stuart is confronted by Pete Wisdom, who challenges him regarding a secret base, a dissection unit on the Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
coast that has been in existence since the 19th century and has recently been used by Black Air. Wisdom maintains that, as head of the Department, Stuart must be aware of the base - and has chosen not to close it, which Wisdom sees as a betrayal of his principles. Alistaire Stuart neither confirms nor denies these assertions; an explosion arranged by Wisdom then destroys the base.
Back in England
London became affected when the crime lord Viper purchases several 'Murderworld' items from the killer ArcadeArcade (comics)
Arcade is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Marvel Comics Universe created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. Arcade first appeared in Marvel Team-Up, vol...
. Stuart is called in to control the scene when it is confirmed that the London Eye
London Eye
The London Eye is a tall giant Ferris wheel situated on the banks of the River Thames, in London, England.It is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3.5 million people annually...
has been rigged with two bombs and a nuclear explosive. The X-Men, having legal standing at the time, ignore Stuart's orders to stand down. The nuclear bomb is removed and neutralized. Afterwards, Stuart removes his jacket and sits on a curb with the X-Men, discussing the situation.
Following the arrival of another dimensional Martian
Martian
As an adjective, the term martian is used to describe anything pertaining to the planet Mars.However, a Martian is more usually a hypothetical or fictional native inhabitant of the planet Mars. Historically, life on Mars has often been hypothesized, although there is currently no solid evidence of...
craft, Stuart decided MI-13 would not be able to handle such situations and switched affiliations to MI6, assisting in their attempts to stop a Martian invasion and keep MI-13 in the dark. He has come around to their view that the specifically created "weird happenings organizations" (a blanket term MI6 used for all similar groups) never last and will never last. He was shown to be at odds with his former ally Pete Wisdom, who viewed Stuart as having betrayed him by switching organizations. During this adventure, Stuart was depicted as an old man. This was later explained as being the result of an off-panel confrontation with Morgan la Fay
Morgan le Fay (Marvel Comics)
Morgan le Fay is a fictional character in the , based loosely on the Morgan le Fay of Arthurian legend. In this version of the character, she is the half-faerie half-sister of the mythic Arthur. Her elven heritage granted her immortality, and she used this time to master the mystic arts. She...
, that left him with a mutable form.
Stuart continues to assist the government in matter of a superhero nature such as with Britain's Superhuman Registration Act. During the "Skrull invasion
Secret Invasion
"Secret Invasion" is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through a self-titled eight issue limited series and several tie-in books published by Marvel Comics from April through December 2008....
" England is invaded by an army of Skrulls, seeking to conquer and wrest magical power. Due to so many members of England's government being replaced by Skrulls, Stuart ends up as one of the de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
leaders of the resistance movement. Ultimately, a forced deal with Satannish
Satannish
Satannish is a fictional character appearing in the Marvel Comics universe.-Fictional character biography:Satannish is a very powerful extra-dimensional demon who has clashed with Doctor Strange. Satannish is known for granting mortals mystical power in exchange for their souls...
kills all Skrulls inside of the British Isles.
Powers and abilities
Stuart is a trained espionage agent, with extensive scientific and leadership expertise.Cursed by Morgan Le Fay, Stuart physical appearance became mutable while he also developed an intuition about magical changes.