Real Name: Calvin RankinMimic appears to have begun his career by parroting the powers of the original X-Men: Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Angel and Marvel Girl. He joined the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and with them attempted to kill Senator Robert Kelly. After being defeated by the X-Men, Calvin came to Professor X, who helped him find peace of mind and body.
Mimic quickly became a mainstay of the team, and eventually assumed its leadership. He permanently copied the powers of Colossus and Wolverine, giving up his ice abilities and his telekinesis/telepathy (most of it), making him a formidable X-Man in battle. Under his leadership, the X-Men became mainstream heroes, making them more accepted than in most other timelines.
In his own timeline, Mimic had a crush on Jean Grey, and was devastated when she became Phoenix and died while he was a member of the Defenders. He became close friends with Wolverine, who shared his feelings for Jean, and a passion for beer and singing.
When Mimic came to the Exiles, he seemed the natural choice for team leader, given his experience. However, it soon became clear to him that he suffered from the myopia of his own past, and had difficulty setting aside what he "knew" about people in the new realities. The choice of Professor X as the object of their rescue (and Xavier's subsequent psychic murder of the city of Phoenix) is a prime example. Mimic soon took a back seat to Blink, wielder of the Tallus, but remained one of the more powerful team members.
On the team's second reality jump, the Exiles were forced to disguise themselves from the X-Men at the trial of Phoenix, where their mission was to kill Jean (who was not a clone) before she became Dark Phoenix and destroyed the galaxy. The Wolverine of that world was apparently also close to Calvin Rankin, and identified him immediately. When Logan confronted him, Cal had no choice but to pick a fight, which after hours of combat ended with Mimic on top.
During the trial later on, Mimic gave up his Angel's wings to mimic the Phoenix power, and so lost his ability to fly until the next jump, where he hung out with Northstar long enough to permanently gain his power. On that world Cal was also kissed by Blink, which was the start of a romance between the two that has progressed over time.
When Blink was removed from the Exiles team following her Transmode infection and cure, Mimic received the Tallus. He managed to lead the team pretty well, but when the Vampire King disrupted the timejump and scattered the Exiles, Cal was stranded on a Brood-controlled Earth. He was repeatedly infected by the Brood, but his healing factor managed to destroy the embryos before they hatched. When he returned to the Exiles, however, he had another embryo inside, which he did not tell to his teammates. When the rampaging Thing of that world beat him bloody, Cal's healing factor could not contend with his injuries and the embryo at once, and he became a Broodling, attacking his teammates and causing general havoc. Worse, he collapsed a building on top of civilians, and Sunfire died trying to destroy all the debris before it hit the ground. Eventually Cal was subdued by the Reed Richards of that world and his Brood embryo was destroyed.
Morph was livid at Mimic for not telling his team the truth about the Brood, but later forgave him. Mimic was soon reunited with Blink, and the Tallus left him for her. However, their reunion was tempered by the arrival of Clarice's foster-father Sabretooth (AOA), as the two disliked each other from past experiences. On the next few missions, Mimic's vow never to kill again in penance for his time as a Brood made him a less-than-confident warrior. When the Exiles finally backtracked the Tallus's signal to confront the Timebroker, they discovered Hyperion (Weapon X) and fought him, a battle in which Mimic was gravely injured while in Colossus's form. To save him, the Exiles found a Curt Connors who had developed a successful regenerative serum (without the Lizard side-effect) and helped him and his team defeat Fin Fang Foom in exchange for a vial. However, while they were away, Heather Hudson woke Deadpool (Weapon X) from stasis and Mimic copied his powers, healing his wounds. Unfortunately, a side effect of Deadpool's powers was his scarred and scabbed skin, which Mimic absorbed as well, and strangely, could not divest himself.
Mimic's changed appearance dampened his relationship with Blink, and they both began to doubt their feelings for each other. Worse, while on Earth 616 during the House of M reality warp, Mimic hesitated to kill Proteus, and was taken as the parasitic mutant's host. Using Mimic's body, Proteus jumped to another timeline (the New Universe), where he was confronted by Justice, and Mimic's body (already being burned out by Proteus's energies) was severely damaged. Proteus soon jumped into Justice's body, leaving Mimic as a lifeless corpse to be found later by the Exiles.
After defeating Proteus, Blink was going to keep Cal's body in the Chronopticon, but Power Princess made her realize that she should let his friends and family decide what to do with it, so she returned it to Earth 12.
Reason for Being an Exile: In the disrupted timeline, his first mission with the Brotherhood went awry when they blew up a school bus full of kids, landing Mimic on death row.
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