Asylum

Gallery

Real Name

Henrique Manuel Gallante

Current Alias

Asylum

Aliases

Darkling

Affiliation

Thunderbolts, Psionex

Status

Identity

Secret Identity

Citizenship

American

Occupation

Terrorist

Characteristics

Gender

Male

Height

5' 9"

Weight

155 lbs (70 kg)

Eyes

Green

Hair

Black

Origin

Origin

Mutant^[1]

Universe

Earth-616

Created by

Fabian Nicieza, Darick Robertson

First appearance

New Warriors #32
(February, 1993)

HistoryEdit

Born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Henrique Gallante was raised in an abusive home. Constantly mistreated and abused, he turned inward, becoming one with his own mental darkness. As he aged, he turned to drugs to try to kill the pain he felt he was in. He spent much of his youth struggling with his drug dependency. This dependency eventually caused him to snap and manifest his own internal darkness in a physical form by unconsciously tapping into the Darkforce Dimension. Reveling in this manifestation, Gallante used his powers as often as he felt like it, eventually becoming one with the darkness, giving into his darkest desires and wrapping his physical form in the darkforce energy.

Eventually, the constant abuse of his powers caused Gallante's powers to erupt in New York and he became Darkling, washing over everyone and bringing out their darkest desires while physically covering them with darkforce energy. This eruption of dark energies caused the city's heroes (most notably the New Warriors, Fantastic Four, Cloak, Dagger, Spider-Man, Avengers and Archangel) to band together to try and stop him.

Battling the villain, many of the heroes fell to him, becoming encased in darkforce energy and succumbing to their dark feelings (Cloak and Silhouette were exceptionally susceptible because of their darkforce-based powers). A number of the heroes managed to remain in control of themselves (most notably Dagger and Firestar, whose powers proved most effective against Gallante) and fought against Gallante. Eventually, by showing him that his actions were just as bad as the people who had abused him, Gallante briefly attained a moment of sanity, then snapped. Gallante reclaimed all of the darkforce energy he had released and collapsed upon himself into the darkforce dimension.

Powers and AbilitiesEdit

Powers

Gallante is a mutant with the psionic ability to tap into the dimension of the Darkforce, an energy based on darkness. So powerful is his access that Gallante was able to open a rift the size of Manhattan between his dimension and the Darkforce's. Although initially Gallante could not consciously control the Darkforce he released, it would often act as a part of his subconscious desire, such as flooding and destroying the world or releasing the dark impulses of others.

He could surround himself in Darkforce, creating a separate, giant-sized body, and could manipulate masses of Darkforce as he desired, creating shapes, tendrils, and blasts of energy. After regaining some control over his abilities, Gallante could even teleport himself and others by using his body as a portal to the Darkforce Dimension. Once inside the dimension, Gallante’s victims would be confronted with their greatest fears as the Darkforce heightened and fed off the "darkness" within their psyches.

NotesEdit

• The card that accompanied New Warriors Annual #3 incorrectly listed the annual itself as his first appearance.

LinksEdit

• 11 Appearances of Henrique Gallante (Earth-616)
• 2 Images featuring Henrique Gallante (Earth-616)
• Quotations by or about Henrique Gallante (Earth-616)
• Character Gallery: Henrique Gallante (Earth-616)
• Fan-Art Gallery: Henrique Gallante (Earth-616)

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• Search this site for: Asylum · Henrique Manuel Gallante · Henrique Gallante (Earth-616)

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