The Marauders have been reinvented in the modern Nazis like the Von Strucker twins are welcome, and even mutant vampires such as Selene and Emplate have found a home there.
Naturally, that means newer readers are being exposed to a lot of characters they've never seen before. Making matters worse, the cast of Hellions including the likes of Nanny and Orphan-Maker, while missions are involving clearing up loose ends from decades ago. The first arc of Hellions focused particularly on a group called the Marauders, who are quite a deep cut into X-Men history.
The original Marauders were formed by Mr. Sinister when he concluded a mutant community known as the Morlocks needed to be wiped out. He assembled a group of trained killers, and unleashed them on the Morlocks. The X-Men intervened, attempting to prevent the atrocity, but not only were they unsuccessful - they also paid a terrible price for the atrocity. These first Marauders were:
- Arclight, a sadistic killer who strikes her enemies down with powerful shockwaves.
- Blockbuster, a physical powerhouse who was even able to trade blows with Thor when the Thunder God was drawn into the chaos of the Morlock killings.
- Greycrow, formerly Scalphunter, a master of mechanics who was fiercely loyal to Mr. Sinister and now serves as a member of the Hellions on Krakoa.
- Harpoon, who can transfer destructive bio-energy into the weapon he throws, even disrupting the powers of other mutants; he trapped Kitty Pryde in a phased state.
- Malice, a horrific mutant who possesses others and turns them into her pawns; she is best known for taking control of the X-Men's Polaris.
- Prism, a crystalline mutant who can refract energy in deadly blasts.
- Riptide, a savage mutant who generates a hurricane of shuriken around himself that can slice through skin and even Colossus' armored form. He pushed Colossus to breaking point, with the normally gentle giant snapping his neck like a twig.
- Sabretooth, the most famous of the Marauders, who followed the Morlock tunnels back to the X-Mansion and even attempted to kill the survivors. Sabretooth was stopped by Psylocke and Wolverine, the beginning of their bitter feud in the comics.
- Scrambler, who can neutralize the mutant abilities of others, making them far more vulnerable.
- Vertigo, a mutate from the Savage Land who can disorientate others.
It was later revealed their guide into the Morlock tunnels was Gambit, who owed Mr. Sinister a favor and was forced to become complicit with the Marauders' crimes.
Mr. Sinister was pleased with the Marauders' performance, and he took genetic samples from all of them, creating armies of clones to serve his will. He even learned to use his psychic powers to implant memories in the clones, a smaller-scale version of the feat Charles Xavier would later perform with Krakoa's Resurrection Protocols. Naturally, the twisted mutant scientist also took the opportunity to manipulate the DNA of the Marauders, meaning each iteration was both a little more human and a little more powerful than the last.
The first arc of the Hellions ongoing series saw Mr. Sinister shut down his old projects, sending in his team of Hellions to destroy the cloning vats. He hadn't counted on Madelyne Pryor, who planned to send an army of Marauders through Krakoa's gateway in a bloody and violent invasion. Fortunately the Hellions were able to stop Madelyne Pryor, and Greycrow killed the active clones of his friends and allies. The X-Men have added the Marauders to the list of mutants to be resurrected, although they aren't a priority.
