Cerebra's Files
Swordsman IV
Real Name: Andreas von Strucker (twin of Andrea von Strucker)
Affiliation: Thunderbolts
Previous Affiliations: Fenris (Leaders), Upstarts
Aliases: Fenris
Relatives: Baron Wolfgang (father, deceased), Andrea von Strucker (Fenris, deceased), Werner (half-brother, deceased)
Alternate-X Versions: "Fenris" twins (Ultimate)
Codename Etymology: Old Codename pronounced fĕn'rĭs [From Norse "a monster wolf"]; Mythological: A giant wolf, child of Loki, that ate Tyr's hand and will help destroy the world during Ragnarok (Armageddon).
Powers & History: The twins who comprise Fenris have a gestalt power which only works
when they are in physical contact. Andrea projects disintegrating energy, and
Andreas projects concussive force. Fenris is also the name of the terrorist organization
the twins run, named (as are they) for the Great Wolf of Norse mythology that
will destroy the gods during Ragnarok. Fenris' most well-known caper was its attempted
assassination of Magneto, Charles
Xavier, and Gabrielle Haller, the three friends who had foiled their father's
plans for a fourth Reich years before. Since the attempt was made at Magnus' trial
in Paris, the disruption of the trial allowed Magneto to go free. The assassination
attempt was preceded by attacks by Fenris on various locations, signed "Free Magneto
- X-Men," acts which tarnished the X-Men's already spotty
reputation even further. Earlier, Andreas and Andrea nearly killed a powerless
Storm while on safari in Africa, because they were harrassing
an African tavern owner, and Ororo tried to stop them. White-supremacists to the
core, Fenris made no secret of their deprecation of anyone who doesn't fit their
Aryan framework. Andrea also shot down Banshee's and
Forge's plane, thinking they were on it, but instead
she gravely wounded their pilot, who later became the Reaver
known as Cylla. Fenris later joined the Upstarts for the
Younghunt, the capturing of the surviving
members of the New Mutants and the Hellions,
but never really gained anything.
Later, Baron von Strucker was resurrected, and the twins joined him in battling Citizen V (IV). However, when Andrea discovered that Citizen V's mind was possessed by that of Baron Zemo II, Zemo/V killed her. Andreas, initally rendered powerless by his sister's demise, managed to remove and tan part of her skin, wrapping it around the grip of a sword. Calling himself the Swordsman, he was controlled and trained for a while by the Purple Man, but when the team of reformed villains called the Thunderbolts defeated him, he joined their ranks.
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