Cerebra's Files
Tag
Real Name: Brian CruzAffiliation: "Hellions" Squad (Xavier's student body)
Powers & History: Brian had the unique ability to compel people to run away from a target he selected, effectively making that person ‘it’ in a strange game of tag. He could choose to make people run toward or away from his target. Tag's power was telepathic in nature, and so was limited by range before the effect wears off. It is unknown whether he could only ‘tag’ people, or even himself. It also seems that he could choose who was affected by his power, as not everyone ran when he tagged someone else. Brian came to Emma Frost’s squad after the rebuilding of the school and joined the Hellions, taking the codename Tag. He never questioned Hellion’s orders, and often eagerly went along with the squad’s plans.
During a vacation trip to the home of his teammate Julian, Tag was part of his squad's deal with the Kingmaker. Tag's wish was to be critical to fulfilling his friends' wishes, and he in fact became sort of a publicist to Hellion and Rockslide. However, when the Hellions broke their deal, Tag's influence on their celebrity was rendered moot. He did manage to tag the Kingmaker himself, however, and cause everyone to pile on him.
| Tag was a student at the New Mutant Leadership Institute, and was roommates with Quentin QUire. When Quentin apparently suicided, Tag refused to believe the coroner's report. He tried hacking into the Institute's database to find information about Dr. Sean Garrison and his daughter Laurie, also a student at NMLI. Tag figured that the Garrisons' pheromone powers could have caused Quentin to shut down his own mind. After being caught by Karma, Tag apologized, but when Karma and Doug Ramsey were confronted by Dr. Garrison, Tag tagged the villain and made him afraid of himself. Unfortunately, Garrison smashed his reflection in an outer window, then jumped out of it to avoid his reflection in a computer monitor. |
Following the House of M reality-warp, Tag's mutation was reversed and he lost his powers.
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