Fenris (comics)

Created by Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr., the von Strucker twins first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #194 (June 1985) in their civilian identity and in Uncanny X-Men #200 (December 1985) as Fenris.

Andrea and Andreas are the children of the terrorist organization HYDRA leader Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. While the two were still in their mother's uterus, they were genetically modified which gave them bio-energy powers which they can use when in physical contact with one another (usually when holding hands). Strucker indoctrinated his children in the beliefs of white supremacy, Nazism and the Fourth Reich. In adulthood, the twins became the supervillains known as "Fenris" and led the Fenris terrorist organization.

Like their father, they are white supremacists. The Strucker twins have gone up against Storm when Storm interrupts Andreas' attempted assault on a native woman in Africa. Andrea retaliates for Storm's humiliation of her brother by shooting her in the head and leaving her to die.[1] The Strucker twins despise Magneto for the role in their father's seeming death some years after World War II. They conduct acts of terrorism and finally attack Magneto during the trial in Paris by the International Court of Justice for crimes against humanity.[2] The X-Men foil their assassination attempt, but Fenris manages to escape by allowing themselves to be swept into the old city sewers. The twins later resurface as part of a group of mutant millionaires who engage in a campaign of murder as part of a game organized by the mutant telepath Gamesmaster and the Hellfire Club's former Black Queen Selene. The twins tried to acquire Omega Red for the Upstarts but failed. The twins ultimately met their match when they tried to kill the former New Mutant Wolfsbane. Wolfsbane and the X-Factor team easily beat the twins.

The twins joined a conference of powerful criminal leaders who intended to divide up what's left by the fallen Kingpin's empire. Among the members of the conference were Slug, Hammerhead, Tombstone and Werner von Strucker. The twins did not believe Werner was actually their sibling. This, and other arguments, caused the conference to degenerate into a shouting, shooting and blasting match. Fenris attempted to kill Hammerhead but was rescued. Their sibling is soon after killed by their father attending the conference disguised as Werner's assistant. The twins resurfaced, where they were seen working with Baron Strucker.[3] They fight Citizen V (John Watkins III), however, Andrea discovers that Citizen V is actually Helmut Zemo's mind transferred into the real Citizen V's body by Techno after being decapitated by Nomad under Henry Peter Gyrich's orders. Zemo quickly kills Andrea to keep her from telling anyone the truth.

Andreas von Strucker as Swordsman (middle) and Songbird. Art by Mike Deodato.

After Andrea's death, Zemo has the Purple Man brainwash Andreas into taking the "Swordsman" alias. Purple Man has him flay the skin from Andrea's corpse to incorporate the resulting leather into his sword's hilt, allowing him to channel their shared powers through his sword. Andreas breaks free of Purple Man's control and joins the Thunderbolts. Andreas continues to be a member under the Thunderbolts' new leadership. Teammate and current field leader Moonstone has approached Andreas with a reassurance. If he helps kill Songbird, Moonstone would be able to make a move to usurp the mentally fragile Norman Osborn as the Thunderbolts' director. Thus two factions seem to be forming amongst the Thunderbolts with Andreas and Moonstone on one side while Songbird and Radioactive Man stand on the other. Despite his considerable skill, he has been defeated twice; the first is when Jack Flag hit him with the flat of his own sword, and the second is when Steel Spider threw him through a window and a flat-screen television using a metal limb.[4]

Under the control of four imprisoned telepaths, Swordsman has taken over the "Baron Strucker" title and shaved his head in his father's honor. He has gained the loyalty of several guards by paying them well, and ordered them to set off a bomb in the Zeus (the Thunderbolts' carrier) to initiate a lockdown. He declares to one of his guards that Norman will bring him back his sister or everyone in Thunderbolts Mountain will be killed.[5] After a detachment of guards kill most of his loyal guards, Strucker kills off the remaining attacking guards. He then encounters Venom declaring to eat Strucker. The two fight, and Strucker runs Venom through with his sword, activating his energy powers while the sword is in Venom's body.[6] Soon afterwards, Osborn snaps from the pressures of running the Thunderbolts, and the Green Goblin brutally attacks Andreas, crucifying him to a wall with small goblin-daggers.[7]

Not long afterward, it is discovered that Andreas used Arnim Zola to make a clone of Andrea von Strucker. Although Andreas has his sister back, he decides to complete his Thunderbolts contract, leaving the group as a free man. In order to protect Andrea's clone while on missions, Andreas skins his arm, giving the flesh to his sister's clone to hold, allowing her to use their shared powers.[8] Andrea's clone accompanies Andreas and the Thunderbolts during the battle against the Skrulls, and witnesses as Moonstone incapacitates Andreas and attempts to make a deal with the Skrulls.[9] Andrea's clone then attacks Moonstone. While she is preoccupied with Moonstone, Bullseye kills her from behind. Osborn later convinces Andreas that the Skrulls killed his sister.[10] Andreas also saves Songbird's life when Bullseye and Venom attempt to kill her on Moonstone's orders.[11] Andreas later confronts Osborn with the revelation that he was not being offered a slot on Osborn's personal Avengers as well as never planning on fulfilling the vow to resurrect his sister or to give him a full Presidential pardon after his contract ended. During the confrontation, his momentarily insane employer stabs Andreas through the chest, apparently killing him with his own sword, and throwing him out over the mountain.[12]

Andrea's clone and Andreas returned to the living and have opened Club Fenris, a supervillain club in Manhattan. When questioned about their demise and subsequent return from the dead, they stated that their father "took care of it".[13]

As a result of genetic engineering with their X-Genes when they were still in utero, Fenris are able to fly and generate energy blasts, but only when they are holding hands. When holding hands, Andreas can generate concussive force blasts while Andrea generates disintegration beams. Swordsman uses various hidden blades; his primary sword blade is sheathed in an adamantium alloy and can shoot a grappling hook-like projectile. His sword's hilt is wrapped with Andrea's skin to release powerful bioelectric blasts of concussive force.

• Citizen V and the V Battalion #1-3
• Cloak & Dagger vol. 3 #8-9
• Excalibur vol. 1 #32-34
• Gambit vol. 3 #10
• Generation X 1996
• Quicksilver #8-9
• Uncanny X-Men #194, 196, 200, 260, 268
• X-Men Unlimited #1
• X-Men vol. 2 #4-7