Joshua Foley (Earth-616)
From Marvel Database
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History
Josh was a member of the Reavers, an anti-mutant group led by Donald Pierce. When Cerebra detected a mutant in the area, Danielle Moonstar and Karma were sent to investigate. When, as a result, the Reavers engaged the second group of New Mutants (mentored by Moonstar) in a fight, Josh discovered he was a healer by healing one of his fellow Reavers. By knocking him out, he was able to hide this for a short time, but after feeling compelled to heal the mortally-injured Wallflower, Laurie Collins. (Laurie developed a crush on him as a result.) When the Reavers discovered Josh was a mutant with healing powers, they rejected him. Angrily rejecting Moonstar's offer to go to the X-Mansion, he went home, to find his fellow Reavers waiting for him, where they delivered a severe beating - and when he healed himself, his parents disowned him upon discovering he was a mutant. Dani Moonstar displaying parental concern for Josh in her role as his legal guardian.
With nowhere else to go, Josh reluctantly went to the Xavier Institute. He was roomed with Prodigy - a situation that neither of them initially found appealing. Josh sent a letter home which only caused his parents to make their disowning of him formal, handing his legal guardianship to the school (specifically, Moonstar). Initially, Josh became friends with the group who would later become the Hellions Training Squad, particularly Hellion, but after finding out about Josh's history with the Reavers, they rejected him too, and the New Mutants intervened to save him. At first reluctant, he started hanging around with them.
Shortly after this, a depowered Wolfsbane (Rahne Sinclair) visited the mansion. Having only heard about her timid early days, Josh was instantly smitten by the new "wild child" Rahne (much to Laurie's dismay, just as she was plucking up the courage to ask him out). After Rahne was rejected for a teaching post due to immaturity, Josh sneaked out of the X-Mansion at night to a bar where she was playing pool. Over the course of a conversation, he rationalized that her new attitude was a way of letting out instincts she had previously been able to blame on "the wolf." Eventually, as they were returning to the mansion, she realized that she did want "the wolf" back, contrary to her previous declarations. As they kissed, he healed away the effects of the weapon that had depowered her - but she lost control as this happened, slashing him open and howling to the moon. Laurie, looking for Josh, came across this scene and (for the first time) managed to control her power to scare Rahne away. But she couldn't return the favor from before to heal the mortally-wounded Josh (who didn't automatically heal because he needs to do it consciously).
As he was rushed to the mansion's infirmary, Beast (in response to the question of how he reversed Wolfsbane's depowering) revealed the full potential of Josh's power for the first time - he could manipulate all the body's functions on a genetic level. The fact that Josh only healed was simply a result of his inexperience. They put him on an I.V. drip, but with Archangel, the mansion's other healer, not present, there was little hope. Prodigy, however, realized that he could heal himself if only he was awake: and Surge said she could wake him up with a small jolt. Reluctantly, Beast went along with this, disconnecting his drip. Surge woke him up, and Laurie kept him calm long enough to for him to heal his wounds. There was one side-effect though which shocked him - for one reason or another, he had turned his skin and hair to a reflective gold (Dani Moonstar speculated it was because he wanted to be the "golden boy" - and injured as he was, he didn't have full control over this instinct).[1] Since the mansion's destruction and reconstruction under Cyclops and Emma Frost, the older members of the student body were organized into six-member squads. Josh was put on his guardian Dani's squad, the New Mutants.
Rahne was then finally accepted onto the teaching staff, and tried to break off her relationship with Josh, citing that her position as a teacher made their relationship inappropriate. Josh reacted negatively, and even went a date with Laurie to get back at Rahne. Despite Josh's argument that there was less than three years of an age difference, Rahne continued to point out that she was a teacher now, and she shouldn't be dating a student. This argument didn't last, however, and they attempted to keep their relationship a secret, until Rahne saw him on a date with Laurie, and broke the relationship off for good, feeling it would be healthier for him to date another student. While he was depressed in the immediate aftermath, however, Josh eventually realized that it was for the best and pursued a relationship with Laurie. Wither, who was enamored with Laurie, however, had seen Rahne and Josh's breakup and, in his jealousy over the relationship between Josh and Laurie, announced Rahne's relationship to the school, and Rahne resigned from her job and left the school as a result.
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Surprised by his involvement with a teacher, the rest of the team - bar Surge - ostracized him for some time, with his roommate David acting particularly harsh towards him. In addition, Josh lost it while dancing with Magma at the school dance after seeing David and Laurie kiss - unbeknownst to him, as a result of Laurie using her powers to make David kiss her with the aim of making Josh jealous - ranting at the two of them before storming out.
One day, the Blob attacked the school. He busted open the front gate, which landed on Laurie's mother Gail, who was visiting her daughter. Gail was hurt and Laurie, in her terror, asked Josh to heal her mother as she attempted to make the Blob sleep.
As the school year came to an end, the New Mutants squad's in-fighting began to tear at their ability to act civilly to one another. Concerned with the future of her team, Wind Dancer convinced everyone to get together for a camp-out on the X-Mansion grounds so they could peacefully work through their issues with one another. The evening ended with Josh speaking candidly with Icarus; Josh processed his disappointment with his actions, especially his past affiliations with the Reavers. Josh was overheard by the other four members of the team, which led Laurie to forgive Josh, Josh to apologize to David for his behavior at the dance, and David to apologize to him for rejecting him.
The school year through, the Field Contest, a year-long account of squad training battles, had its final match. Moonstar's New Mutants and Emma Frost's Hellions were the two top squads, and faced off for first place. Ultimately, the Hellions beat the New Mutants, and the New Mutants took second place.
As the new school year began,The Danger Room became sentient and killed off the senior members of the X-Men in "her" attempt to find and destroy her "father," Charles Xavier. The senior members were not dead for long, however, as Josh was able to bring them all back from the brink of death. He was visibly exhausted by his efforts.
Decimation
Soon afterwards, the events of House of M left only twenty-seven students with their powers, Josh included. The school---and, indeed, the world---woke to panic, as the vast majority of the world's mutant population was depowered. Emma Frost, fearing their safety, ordered that the depowered students and staff leave the Institute. Herself depowered, Josh's guardian Moonstar was forced to leave. One bus of depowered students was bombed by anti-mutant zealot Reverend William Stryker, killing all of the former students on board.
All of the remaining students were placed by Emma Frost into an all-out brawl, and the ones deemed the best by Emma would become a group of X-Men in-training. Josh made the team, and began training to become an X-Man.
Meanwhile, Stryker consulted his "vision," hoping to reveal his next target. Stryker decided that "the Omega-level" will be next, while holding a picture of Josh and Laurie.
During one of their first training sessions, the New X-Men sparred with Colossus. Caught up in his emotions over the students killed as a result of Stryker's bus attack, Josh hit the powered-down Colossus over the head with a metal beam. Furious with his action, Emma kicked him off the team temporarily.
Laurie and Josh promptly had an argument about Josh's place on the New X-Men. Laurie explained that Emma was all wrong, that the team was merely about "violence and fighting," whereas Elixir should could do a "beautiful thing." However, Josh tells Laurie when he tried to heal DJ, "I could feel him dying...his life bleeding out of him," and that "when he died, he took a piece of me with him, a piece of me died, too." At that moment, Laurie was killed by a gunshot, fired by one of Stryker's agents.
Laurie's body and a distraught Josh were found by several of the X-Men and students. When Wolverine tried to restrain Josh from Laurie's body, his mutant power manifested and caused painful boils or blisters to appear on Wolverine's hands and wrists.
According to David, the thing that Josh did with Stryker not only affected him physically (his black metallic skin) but also altered his brain chemistry.
Nimrod and funerals
When X-23 was mortally wounded and unable to heal during the final battle with Nimrod, Hellion rushed her back to the institute (with help from Emma Frost who unlocked the part of his brain which controlled his powers). Julian gave a motivational speech, and got Josh to get over the past, healing Laura and returning his skin to its gold color (although some black parts remained, that was probably just residual blackness fading away).
Shortly after it was discovered that a small part of black still remained on his skin, moving over it from place to place. Josh also stated he could still kill but he would need to learn how to control it. At the end of the same issue he was seen at a memorial done to remember all the students who were killed in Stryker's raid of the school.
Since waking from his coma, Josh took a more peaceful approach to life. He began to wear only white clothing, and, when not studying, was often lost in thought and introspective. He has recently demonstrated an interest in Zen Buddhism.
Shortly before the other students were teleported to Limbo, The Stepford Cuckoos helped Elixir learn advanced human biology by copying information from Beast's mind into Josh's. This allowed him to use his power with exponentially greater precision, allowing him to regrow Prodigy's heart from nothing after it was torn out by Belasco. This proved a severe strain to Elixir however and he fell unconscious for a few moments. Later he regained consciousness and was able to use his "black abilities" to attack Belasco, however the demonic master of Limbo proved more resilient than humans and quickly recovered from the attack before being killed by Magik.
Children of X-Men
When Mercury aked Elixir about his age, he is sitting alone in the dark and told her instead about his cells and how he felt them aging and dying freaking her out. When Surge interviewed him about what happened to David in Limbo, he told her nothing happened. Later when Kitty Pryde tried to have a student/teacher conference, he was still sitting alone in the dark. When she asked him what he is doing, he told her he was thinking about life and death and how he could give it and take it. “With everything my powers can do… Really Miss Pryde… What can’t I do?” This scared Kitty greatly who suggested to the other teachers that, without proper guidance, they may be raising the next Magneto in Josh.
Still sitting in the dark, Elixir was thinking and his skin went from gold to black. Loa came to his room and asked if he wanted to make out. His skin returned to gold and he said sure with a smile. They remained together for some time.
When some of the New X-Men decided to launch a pre-emptive strike against the Purifiers, Elixir sat out the fight for fear that he may loose control and massacre The Purifiers in retaliation for Laurie's murder. He did however offer his help as a healer if the students needed him. When the sentinels attacked the mansion, Elixir and some of the students left behind were knocked unconscious.
X-Force
Josh, presumably recovered from the sentinel attack, was brought in to cure Wolfsbane after she was given a deliberate heroin overdose by the Purifiers. Upon healing Rahne, she attacked Josh, moving on to her real target, Angel, tearing out his wings and delivering them to Reverend Craig. Josh heals Angel's wounds, but his attempts to regrow his wings are thwarted by the discovery that Warren's wings were never really organic and that he still carries the Apocalypse techno-organic strain.
Due to Elixir being a "problem" to X-Force, X-23 contacted the Stepford Cuckoos to help Rahne and erase Elixir's memories of the team, by Josh's request. However, before his memories could be erased, X-Force was interrupted and sent on a mission. [2]
Elixir joined X-Force and received a dark-colored uniform. He helped his new team capture and force information from Vanisher by creating an inoperable tumour on Vanisher's brain. [3]. Although he has often followed X-force into battle he has been very wary of using his abilities in combat, preferring to avoid combat, much to Vanisher's ire [4]. When X-23 became infected with the Legacy Virus Josh was able to purge the virus from her body, swearing that he would never let another friend die. [5].
Messiah War
After Surge, Hellion and Boom Boom were captured by the Leper Queen, Josh accompanied X-Force in their rescue attempt, unaware until the operation was underway exactly who had been taken. However the operation was interrupted by Cyclops who forced the team to timeslide into the future to help Cable and Hope Summers. Initially hysterical with worry about Hellion and Surge, Josh quickly regained his senses, using his power to heal Vanisher and Hope when the group were attacked by Stryfe's minions. Josh quickly developed a rapport with Hope and even used his powers offensively in an attempt to kill Stryfe to save her. Unfortunately this attack proved to be in vain as Stryfe was able to use his telepathy to force Elixir to heal him. As the team returned to the present, Josh suddenly shouted that he knew what Hope was, although the ramifications of this are yet to be revealed.
Returning to the present, Josh was able to purge Hellion and Surge of the Legacy Virus that the Sapien League had infected them with. The strain of purging the virus from his friends, combined with the stress of time travel ultimately proved too much for Josh and he fell into a coma, Surge, Hellion and Loa keeping vigil by his bedside.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
Elixir is an Omega-level mutant.
Biokinesis: Elixir is capable of controlling the biological structure of his own and other people's bodies. Theoretically capable of rewriting someone's genetic structure at will. He can produce biomolecular energy at will to affect organic matter he touches, allowing him to heal physical damage done to his body or the bodies of others, reactivate suppressed mutant abilities, repair cerebral functions, and alter the composition of his own molecules in certain ways. He hasn't reached his full healing potential yet. Currently he is capable of basic healing, having successfully healed broken bones, severe burns and even a mortal stab through the chest. His ability is by close proximity - he tends to touch his targets, but can heal through clothing. He may eventually develop enough control of his powers to manipulate the human genome, altering eye, hair and skin colour, implanting physical characteristics or even reactivating dormant mutant or atavistic genes.
Elixir has advanced knowledge of human anatomy and medicine copied into his mind from Beasts by The Stepford Cuckoos. This allows him to use his power to it's fullest extent, including regrowing Prodigy's heart from nothing and infecting Vanisher with a lethal brain tumour.Abilities
Due to the psychic knowledge taught to him by the Stepford Cuckoos using the knowledge of Beast. Elixir now possesses Genius-level understanding of human anatomy, physiology and biology.Strength level
Average human.Weaknesses
Using his powers for extreme feats of manipulation can extremely wear out his body causing him to collapse.
Notes
Elixer's first case of activating suppressed powers was when he reactivated Wolfsbane's wolf powers when they kissed, which caused his gold skin when he recovered.
Trivia
It is currently unknown if elixer's gold/black skin is the result of a secondary mutation or a side effect of his powers.
Links
- Appearances of Joshua Foley (Earth-616)
- Character Gallery: Joshua Foley (Earth-616)
- Images that feature Joshua Foley (Earth-616)
- Fan-Art Gallery: Joshua Foley (Earth-616)
- Quotations by Joshua Foley (Earth-616)
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