Cerebra's Files

Sunspot

Real Name: Roberto DaCosta
Affiliation: Hellfire Club, X-Corporation, X-Force?
Previous Affiliations: X-Force, New Mutants
Relatives: Emanuel (father, deceased), Nina (mother)
Aliases: Lord Imperial (current), Black Rook III
Alternate-X Versions: (AOA), (Mutant X), (Earth X), (Ultimate)
Codename Etymology: Pronounced sŭn'spŏt [From Old English sunne + Old English splott "speck, blot, patch (of land)]; A region on the sun's surface with a lower temperature than its surroundings and intense magnetic activity, which is seen as a dark spot.
Powers & History: Sunspot absorbs solar energy, which used to increase his strength and hardiness. A founding member of the New Mutants, Bobby was a mainstay of the junior team for 98% of its existence. However, when his father died (killed by the External Gideon), Bobby went with Gideon, who was an old friend, to take over his father's business. Gideon, however, was looking for the next External, and thinking that it was Sunspot, had Bobby subjected to various experiments that increased his solar absorption capabilities by 3000%. When Sunspot was liberated by X-Force, he found he had the ability to fire energy blasts from his hands. Later still, during a battle with the M.L.F., Sunspot channeled his solar energy around his body, enabling him to fly. Unfortunately, he flew into one of Locus' portal beams and was sent into the timestream. It was thought that Sunspot had an alternate persona called Reignfire who led the M.L.F., but it has become clear that they are separate entities. After Bobby flew into Locus' beam, Reignfire captured him and forged a telepathic link that made Sunspot his puppet. When Cable forced his Askani disciplines into Sunspot to "expunge" Reignfire, he severed that link and Bobby returned to normal. As a result of Cable's actions, Bobby is now fluent in Askani and has gained finer control over his powers. He is currently so powerful that he finds it hard not to be in his blacked-out "fiery-head" state, but he can power down using the Askani methods. In the final battle with Reignfire, Bobby was possessed by his nemesis, but eventually regained control of his body, and is stronger than ever. While his best friend Sam Guthrie (Cannonball) was with the X-Men, Bobby got closer with Sam's girlfriend Tabitha (Meltdown). Things progressed to the point where the teammates kissed, just in time for Sam to burst in and see them. This drive a wedge between the friends that hasn't really healed, although they managed to work together when Sam rejoined X-Force. Recently, Bobby was deported from the U.S. because his student visa was no longer valid since he was not a student anymore. He returned to Brazil, but was restless and found the life of a rich playboy heir boring and meaningless. At that moment, Selene, who had usurped control of the Hellfire Club, approached Bobby and convinced him to help her stop the Deviants in the Damocles Foundation from resurrecting a Celestial Template. Bobby agreed, and met up with X-Force again during the battle. However, Selene didn't give up so easily and put Bobby through a number a illusory situations to force him to her side. Sunspot saw through all of them, so Selene and Blackheart, the new Black King, played their trump card: Juilana Sandoval. Juilana was Bobby's girlfriend before his powers manifested. She was captured along with him by the Hellfire Club and she died to save him from being shot by a HC goon. Blackheart told Bobby that Juliana was supposed to have lived, but someone in Processing messed up. The deal was: Bobby joins the Hellfire Club, and Juliana gets a new start in a recently deceased girl's body. Feeling that he owed his life to Juliana, Bobby had no choice but to accept, and left X-Force to become the third Black Rook.

With Sebastian Shaw's resumption of leadership of the Hellfire Club, Bobby appears to have been released from his vow. Exactly what occured and why Shaw would let Bobby get away is still unknown. Bobby then became the head of the Los Angeles X-Corporation branch, and is working with Empath to insure that mutant interests are taken care of. For some reason, Bobby no longer uses or has access to his energy-blasting and flight abilities, and now simply operates as "super-strong." In that capacity, Bobby helped Jon Spectre and a reconstituted X-Force battle the Skornn.

Recently, Bobby was again contacted by Shaw (and secretly by Sage) and invited to join the Lords Cardinal as the Black King under Shaw, who sought the overarching position of Lord Imperial. However, Shaw's injury at the hands of Donald Pierce put Roberto in position to become Lord Imperial, with Sage as his primary adviser.

However, Roberto was also recently involved in the return of X-Force during Cable's fight with the Skornn, and then again when the team confronted Deadpool. With the emergence of a new Hellfire Club and Sage's joining Excalibur after M-Day, it's unclear whether Roberto retained his title or club connections.