Cerebra's Files

Years ago, while his cousin Sean was away on a mission for Interpol, Tom took custody of Sean's daughter Theresa when her mother Maeve (whom Tom had always loved) died during a bombing. Tom kept Terry's existence a secret from Sean, and raised Theresa as his own. Eventually, due to Tom's criminal activities, Theresa was taken from him, and father and daughter were reunited. Tom has always blamed Sean for taking away his one chance at a family, and has resolved to make his life as miserable as possible.

Black Tom first appeared to challenge the X-Men while taking over Banshee's ancestral home of Cassidy Keep. Tom captured all the X-Men except Nightcrawler, who was saved by the local leprechuans. Eventually, Kurt freed Banshee, who knocked Tom into the ocean, where he was saved by Juggernaut. By this point, it was known that Banshee's and Tom's powers wouldn't work on the other.

Much later, after Juggernaut had been dimensionally displaced, Tom struck a deal with science company magnate Arianna Jankos: in return for locating Juggernaut and returning him to our dimension, Tom agreed to head off the hostile takeover that was being directed at her company. During the buyout meeting, Tom appeared and took the buyers hostage, among them industrialist Gideon and his then-protege Sunspot. X-Force and Siryn appeared to stop the plan, and Tom detonated explosives in one of the towers. Cable confronted Tom and shot him many times, even when Tom was cligning for life to a cable in an elevator shaft. Tom fell down the shaft, but was saved by Deadpool, who was working for Tolliver at the time. This resulted in the afore-mentioned plant graft.

Months passed, and Black Tom's rage against his cousing had not abated. Using his plant powers, he appeared to have subverted Mondo, a student at the Massachussetts Academy, where Sean was now headmaster. Black Tom kidnapped the Generation X students and replaced them with plant doppelgangers, setting the real ones afloat in the middle of the ocean. Meanwhile, he tortured Sean with the knowledge that he couldn't save his students, and then blew the doppelgangers up.

Tom was next seen helping Juggernaut recover his Crimson Gem, which had somehow been removed from his body (again). This time, however, Tom looked completely normal, with no plant mutations apparent. It is unknown whether that Tom was a doppelganger or the real thing, or if he has somehow managed to reverse the genetic experiment.

Recently, Tom revealed to Gen X that it was he, in the guise of "Barrington" who had abducted Mondo and replaced him with the plant doppelganger that had betrayed the school to Tom, and who was subsequently destroyed by Bastion. He had been raising Mondo as his own, and taught him to hate the Gen Xers. Fortunately, Tom, Mondo and Juggernaut were defeated in this attack as well.

When the X-Men were sucked into the Oktid dimension, they found Tom there as well, having himself summoned them to help stop Juggernaut, who was possessed by the god Cytorrak after the restoration of his powers. Tom was unable to help much, and disappeared with Cain when the X-Men completed the mission.

Months later, Tom and Juggernaut were hired by Ulysses to attack Cyclops during the ex-soldier's vengeance run against the leader of the X-Men. Cyclops fought them off and then tracked them back to Ulysses, helping the duo escape when their employer betrayed them. Then, only a few weeks later, Tom lost control of his mutation and took over Cassidy Keep with plant tendrils. He reverted completely to a plant form, and needed to drain life energy from people to stay alive. When the X-Men arrived in response to Juggernaut's distress signal, Tom quickly captured most of them, impaling Wolverine and Iceman on sharp, thick vines. He strung up the rest and began draining them, and Juggernaut, whom he turned on. Finally, Iceman froze Tom solid, freeing the X-Men and Juggernaut. Tom came after Cain and tossed him into the ocean, but the X-Men saved, Juggernaut and left Tom in a frenzy as he ravaged Cassidy Keep.

A few months later, Tom reappeared as a vicious member of a new Brotherhood of Mutants, ostensibly led by Exodus. He was spotted by Squidboy, who had been on the mission to save Juggernaut at Cassidy Keep, but unfortunately no one believed that Tom had survived. Tom soon revealed that Juggernaut had been working for him, infiltrating the X-Men, and Cain actually appeared by his side, unfortunately, Sammy had followed Cain and leaped at Tom in a rage of betrayal, and Tom killed him brutally. Cain then turned on the Brotherhood (as had been his plan all along) and an enormous battle ensued between the X-Men and the Brotherhood. Eventually the X-Men turned to Xorn II and had him open his containment helmet, allowing the gravitational energy of the black hole inside to affect the surroundings. Tom was caught by Juggernaut and possessed by Nocturne, who made him release his hold on the ground, whereupon the three of them were sucked into Xorn's head.

Tom survived and lost his mutant powers after M-Day, which rendered him human again. Somehow he was contacted by Black Air, and given technological replacements for his mutant blasting powers, and control of mechanical plants. With Black Air, he attacked a convoy transporting the Shadow X-Men (from an alternate reality), but was forced to flee. He ran into a house and took the lady inside hostage. Juggernaut came in to talk to Tom, and Tom apologized for killing Squidboy, saying he was not sane back then, but was better now. Juggernaut told him to prove it by turning himself in, and Tom agreed. He was taken into London Police custody.
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