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Thunderbird

Real Name: John Proudstar
Affiliation: Exiles
Previous Affiliations: X-Men, Four Horsemen
Aliases: War
Relatives: James (deceased)
History & Powers: John Proudstar has the mutant abilities of super-speed and -strength. He joined the X-Men and served on the team for a while, but was then captured by Apocalypse, who turned him into the Horseman War. John was mutated by Apocalypse into a giant behemoth with three-fingered hands and a carapace of incredibly hard retractable skin, which covers masses of circuitry on top or embedded in his muscles.

Thunderbird was also given the ability to shapeshift into an even larger, horse-legged killing machine. In this "battle mode," his nose sinks into his face, and the carapace plates form spikes on his shoulders and elbows. This form also appears to increase John's height and strength. Other side effects of his transformation include the loss of his sense of taste (and possibly the elimination of need to eat) and a highly increased sense of smell. Recently, Thunderbird found that when sufficiently enraged, he can further mutate into an almost Stegosaurus-like monster, capable of subduing even the Hulk.

Though Apocalypse broke his body, John retained his fierce will, and eventually escaped from the Four Horsemen and rejoined the X-Men. Some time afterwards, he became "unstuck in time" and was force to join the Exiles to repair damaged timelines. On the team's third jump, he met another version of himself, who had not encountered Apocalypse, but instead had joined Alpha Flight and had become Shaman's pupil, eventually taking over the mantle of Shaman himself. The two talked, and being in many ways the same person, Shaman tried to help Thunderbird overcome his feeling like a monster. Shaman also helped John return to his senses after the aforementioned "Stego-Man" mutation.

Over time, John grew close with Nocturne, and the two became lovers. Eventually, John got T.J. pregnant, and was very protective of her on their next missions, until they revealed it to the team on the Skrull-dominated Earth.

On that mission, Thunderbird (along with the rest of the team) was forced into arena combat by the Skrulls. While John initially did not want to fight, he always defended himself well, and soon rose to the top of the rankings in the super-heavyweight class. However, when Galactus arrived, the Skrulls fled and the Exiles organized the super-beings into an army. Their plan depended on getting a bomb into a chink in Galactus's armor, but everyone capable of delivering it was knocked away by Galactus. Except Thunderbird, who grabbed the device and placed it into Galactus, forcing the world-eater to retreat. Unfortunately, Thunderbird was gravely injured and fell into a coma. While the scientific geniuses of that world volunteered to care for John, little hope was held out for his recovery. Furthermore, the Exiles were forced to leave John on that world when the Tallus recalled them and the Timebroker sent a new member, Sasquatch, to replace Thunderbird.

Reason for Being an Exile: In the disrupted timeline, he never broke free of Apocalypse's conditioning.