Blaquesmith

Blaquesmith (Askani)

Blaquesmith is a fictional Marvel Comics mutant character that first appeared in Cable #21 (1995).

Fictional character biography

Born into a post-apocalyptic alternate future, Blaquesmith was the first male to be admitted into the Askani sisterhood, a group of warrior women opposed to the rule of Apocalypse. In return for this deed, the Askani charged him with the task of mentoring the Chosen One of the Askani, the Askani'son, who happened to be Nathan Summers, later known as Cable. Captured and imprisoned for rebellion, he found Nathan, another inmate who was captured by the New Canaanites. He told Nathan where the last Askani enclave was located, and together, they escaped from the jail. For unexplained reasons, Blaquesmith was forced to twist and corrupt his mortal form in order to train Nathan in the ways of the Askani. Nevertheless, he did so willingly. When Nathan, now using the alias Cable, traveled to the 20th century to stop the rise of Apocalypse, Blaquesmith traveled back in time as well to assist the hero. Unlike Cable, who was dependent on his spacestation Greymalkin to travel in time, Blaquesmith could do so under his own power; he was even capable of sending other people through time by meditating.

Blaquesmith made his base inside a ship, docked at the Baltimore Harbor. He would often provide Cable with technology and weaponry, though Cable also bought weaponry from Advanced Idea Mechanics. Despite being longtime allies, Cable and Blaquesmith had their problems; Cable didn't fully trust Blaquesmith and Blaquesmith thought that Cable was not doing enough to stop Apocalypse. After the destruction of Greymalkin and the departure of Cable's other mentor, Professor, Cable came to rely more and more on Blaquesmith. During the Onslaught-conflict, Blaquesmith was apparently killed when his ship exploded.

Blaquesmith had not died though, but had been taken prisoner by the time traveler Rama-Tut. Rama-Tut's time-machine had been destroyed and he was stranded in the 20th century. He demanded that Blaquesmith build him a new one, but Blaquesmith was rescued by Cable. Pleased to see that Cable had now become more devoted to his mission, Blaquesmith returned to assist him, though he would have many arguments with Cable's friend and chronicler, Irene Merryweather. During the Twelve, Apocalypse absorbed the powers of Twelve Mutants and had to take over a new host body. He took over the body of Cyclops, Cable's father. Cyclops disappeared and Cable and Cyclops' wife Jean Grey went to search for him. Blaquesmith decided that Apocalypse was too dangerous though, and hired the assassin Gauntlet to hunt down the merged Cyclops/Apocalypse being. Gauntlet failed and Apocalypse was driven from Cyclops' body and destroyed, but Blaquesmith's involvement remained unknown.

After Apocalypse's demise, Cable and Blaquesmith started to look for a new mission in their life. They were forced to combat the Dark Sisterhood who wanted to kill Cable. During this battle, Blaquesmith was thought killed again, but his body was never found. Cable didn't seem to be too concerned as Blaquesmith had disappeared before.

An imposter tried to manipulate Cable for a short while (see below), but the real Blaquesmith returned and became a member of Cable's Underground Movement, a group gathered to stop Weapon X. The Underground failed and disbanded and Blaquesmith hasn't been seen since. It is not known if Blaquesmith retained his mutant powers after the M-Day, though Endangered Species reveals that mutants belonging to alternate timelines, such as Cable, were not depowered.

Most recently, Blaquesmith has been revealed to be alive and powered in Avengers: X-Sanctions #1.

Powers and abilities

Blaquesmith's main superpowers are telepathic and telekinetic in nature. In addition, he possesses the ability to time travel, allowing him to make short jumps in time, send other people to the far future and act as an anchor for time travelers. Blaquesmith is also a superhuman inventor, with his mechanical genius possibly another part of his mutation. He often carries a staff, both used as a walking stick and as a weapon.

Blaquesmith (Nigel Novotny)

Blaquesmith (Nigel Novotny) is a fictional Marvel Comics character that first appeared in Soldier X #1 (2002). Initially thought to be Blaquesmith himself, he turned out to be an imposter.

Fictional character biography

When Blaquesmith was thought to be killed by the Dark Sisterhood, movie producer Jackie Singapore hired Nigel Novotny to impersonate him. Jackie Singapore was a very rich and powerful man and he wanted to turn Cable, now calling himself Soldier X, into a movie franchise and create a cult around him. Cable let him know that he wasn't interested before, so Singapore hoped that Cable would listen to his "mentor". Novotny had been a small town teacher with little success and saw this as an opportunity to do something great with his life. He underwent surgery to look like Blaquesmith.

Unlike the almost monastic Blaquesmith, Novotny was a hedonist and used the money he received from Singapore to indulge in food, expensive clothes and women. He sent Cable on a mission to rescue a missing girl, but didn't reveal his reasons for doing so. Afterwards, Cable went to Kashmir, where he was told of a strange man in a town saying only the word "Askani". Cable went to find out and was confronted by a mad general and his troops. The General desired to fly, but was killed by his own men when Cable made his insanity clear to his men. Novotny appeared and confessed to Cable that he was not the real Blaquesmith. He explained Singapore's idea to turn Cable into the new messiah through the media. Cable surprisingly enough agreed with the idea. Novotny, now humble, asked him if he could teach him as well. Cable agreed and the two left.