Prudence Leighton (Earth-616)

Prudence
Name	Prudence Leighton
Current Alias	Prudence
Aliases	Quiet Man, Agent 16
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Shepard, Professor X, Mutant Underground
Relatives	Francis Leighton (brother); Shortpack (lover)
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Female
Eyes	Irises: Blue
Hair	Blond
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Mutant, psionic entity
Living Status	Deceased
Reality	Earth-616
Personal Information
Identity	Secret
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Top operative agent
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Brian K. Vaughan, Jorge Lucas
First	Mystique #1 (April, 2003)
First	Mystique #1 (April, 2003)
Death	Mystique #24 (February, 2005)
Death	Mystique #24 (February, 2005)

History

Prudence Leighton was part of a network of secret agents and spies gathered by Charles Xavier in order to perform missions deemed unfit for the X-Men due to their sensitive nature. Her last assignment involved the purchase of Soviet Union Sentinels by military commanders of Cuba.

Prudence was murdered by Steinbeck, a pyrokinetic mutant arms dealer, before the eyes of Shortpack, her handler, who secretly loved her. However she did not pass on completely and took over Steinbeck’s body – she accessed his powers and resources and contacted her brother.

Prudence was falling into mental decay because her power didn't really work on men and she and her brother Shepard set out to assassinate Charles Xavier with one of the greatest assassins on the planet, the newly blackmailed agent Mystique. Calling herself the Quiet Man, Prudence played the role of a mysterious benefactor who offered to remove Mystique's tracking implant in exchange for her services.

Unfortunately their machinations came apart when Mystique double crossed them. Prudence removed the Quiet Man’s cloak and revealed she was still wearing the outfit she’d been murdered in (for some odd reason) while in Steinbeck's body. She and Mystique fought but Mystique proved far more capable and dodged Stenbecks breath and Prudence's punches to stab Quiet Man in the stomach.

Prudence's and Steinbeck's minds apparently went into overdrive and their powers reached critical mass. They began to swell and exploded, throwing Shortpack and Mystique far from the site.

Attributes

Powers

Possession: Prudence can psi-jump into other women, allowing her consciousness to inhabit their body and control their actions.

Fire-breathing: Steinbeck/Quiet Man can spew pyrokinetic flames from his throat cavity, inhabited by a second mutant capable of possessing other women.

Notes

Steinbeck killed Prudence's body, but she projected her consciousness into his to escape full death. Since Prudence can only inhabit women, Steinbeck is possibly affected by true hermaphroditism, possessing both testicular and ovarian tissue, enough to qualify for Prudence's power. Shepard calling Prudence "beloved" possibly indicates an incestuous relationship between the two.

See Also

• 3 appearance(s) of Prudence Leighton (Earth-616)
• 3 mention(s) of Prudence Leighton (Earth-616)
• 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Prudence Leighton (Earth-616)
• 1 image(s) of Prudence Leighton (Earth-616)