Cerebra's Files

Skin

Real Name: Angelo Espinosa
Affiliation: Generation X
Status: Deceased
Relatives: Mother (unnamed), Gil (cousin, last name unknown)
Alternate-X Versions: (AOA)
Codename Etymology: Pronounced skĭn [From Old Norse skinn "epidermis"]; The external layer of tissue of an animal.
Powers & History: Angelo had approximately six extra feet of skin on his body that he could manipulate. It was very hard for him to control, however, and sometimes he even had trouble making his face stay put. Before joining Gen X, Angelo was in an L.A. gang, and during a violent shoot-out was forced to fake his own death and leave home. He first came to know his future Generation X comrades when he was captured by the Phalanx known as Harvest. Skin, M, Husk, and Clarice Ferguson were kept on an old ship in San Francisco Bay. They were rescued by Banshee, Synch, Jubilee, Emma Frost and Sabretooth, and Angelo joined the others (minus the deceased "Blink") as the new class of students at the Massachussetts Academy, which became a division of the Xavier Institute.

As a member of Gen X, Angelo performed fairly well, and increased his skill with his powers to the point where he could even rearrange his face. He used his skin both offensively and defensively, although he was sometimes reckless. Throughout his tenure, he seemed to have feelings for Jubilee, but he never capitalized on any opportunities with her. When the school closed, Skin went with Jubilee to L.A., where they shared an apartment while she tried to become an actress. Angelo soon realized that the agents and directors were exploiting Jubilee, and he cautioned her against accepting more roles. Eventually he was proven correct, and they apparently split up, as Jubilee ended up in the X-Corps.

What happened to Skin afterwards is a mystery, but someone must have deduced his connection to the Xavier Institute, and he was found crucified on the Mansion's grounds, along with other mutants. Unfortunately, though Archangel's new healing factor managed to save some of the mutants' lives, Skin did not respond to the treatment and was pronounced dead. Even worse, when the cemetery where his family buried him found out that Angelo was a mutant, they attempted to have him exhumed and cremated on the grounds that mutancy conflicted with the cemetery organization's religious beliefs. Jubilee and Husk happened to be there, and tried to stop the move, in the process revealing one of the cemetery workers as a mutant and costing him his job. In the end, Angelo's body was cremated and his ashes given to Jubilee.
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