Deathdream

Member of the Outliers.

Name:

Deathdream

Publisher:

Marvel

Real name:

Hotoru

Aliases:

Birth date:

None

Gender:

Male

Powers:

Necromancy
Precognition

First issue:

Uncanny X-Men #1 Red Wave

See at ComicVine

Origin

Hotoru was a teen from Kyoto, Japan. He was stillborn, with his umbilical cord around his neck. He was revived, but he died three more times that night. Eventually, his mutation manifested, and he was able to revive himself. He now lives between the land of the living and the land of the dead.

Creation

Deathdream first appeared in Uncanny X-Men (2024) #1 by Gail Simone and David Marquez

Major Story Arcs

Red Wave

Hotoru and the other Outliers were being chased by Sarah Gaunt, a monstrous bounty hunter that was capturing mutants for Graymalkin, the prison that used to be the X-Academy. Member Ransom flipped a coin between X-Men and the Brotherhood, and it landed on X-Men. They tracked a few former members to Haven House orphanage in Louisiana. Rogue was inspired to restart the X-Men to train and protect these kids, working out of Haven. She was joined by Gambit, Nightcrawler, Jubilee, and a reluctant Wolverine.

Sarah Gaunt eventually caught up with them, attacking Wolverine. When Rogue and Kurt found his body, she sent Logan back with Kurt while she faced Sarah on her own. Meanwhile, an army of Sarah's followers showed up to Haven House forcing the X-Men and The Outliers to team up before the Outliers were ready. They proved successful, although it meant Gambit using the Second Eye of Agamotto to give them an edge.

Raid on Graymalkin

During a supply run into town, new teammate Calico was captured along with Jubilee and taken to the Graymalkin Prison, formerly the Xavier Institute. Despite disapproval from Cyclops, leader of the Alaska X-Men, Rogue mounted her own raid on Graymalkin, only to enter a standoff with Cyclops' X-Men, who were mounting their own raid. Believing their raids were in danger of failure due to the other's raid, with a psychic push from Scurvy, an empath working for Graymalkin. Members were pitted against each other with Deathdream testing his necromancy against Magik's spellcasting.

As Graymalkin guards got involved with the fight, they were interrupted by Charles Xavier, former leader of the X-Men who had escaped his cell in the prison. Xavier battled Scurvy releasing the two X-Men teams from his grasp to make a concerted effort against the Graymalkin security team. Outgunned, warden Corina Ellis resorted to threatening the towns in which the X-Men were operating with her sonic weapons in orbit. With no other choice, the teams peacefully left with only their imprisoned members returned to them. Xavier volunteered to stay, admitting to his sins and accepting his punishment,.

However, Xavier later escaped and left the planet after receiving a psychic distress call from his daughter, Xandra.

The Dark Artery

Hotoru was communicating with a nearby spirit and invited his teammates to follow it.The voice leads them to The Artery, a graveyard under a swamp guarded by Man-Thing. Behind a door was Lady Henrietta, Guardian of the Penumbra, an underworld for relatives of mutants who betrayed or abused them, but the actual Penumbra was ruled by Shuvahrak, who had been calling to one of the Outliers to take her place. Hotoru volunteers, but his teammates refuse to let him go alone.

Dressed in special living uniforms to protect them in the underworld, the Outliers were confronted by the spirits trapped in Penumbra, rageful and spiteful toward living mutants. Thankfully, they got back up from Man-Thing, who took a liking to the kids, and their X-Men mentors who came looking for them. Shuvahrak interrupted the fight to demand one of the Outliers be her successor, but the X-Men weren’t giving any of them up without a fight. Calico called forth Ember, who was revealed to have been brought back from the dead. Shuvahrak feared Ember and was, by extension, weak to Man-Thing, who caused her to burn.

Injured, Jubilee asked for mercy from Shuvahrak, that she not kidnap any of the kids under their guardianship as her daughter was kidnapped from her (her inspiration for creating Penumbra). She relented but demanded they never return.