Telford Porter, alias le Fantôme (« Vanisher » en version originale) est un super-vilain évoluant dans l'univers Marvel de la maison d'édition Marvel Comics. Créé par le scénariste Stan Lee et le dessinateur Jack Kirby, le personnage de fiction apparaît pour la première fois dans le comic book X-Men #2 en novembre 1963.

Biographie

Much of the Vanisher's life remains a mystery, aside from his career as a professional criminal and subversive, though he was apparently born in Milton, Massachusetts. He is a mutant with the ability to teleport to any place he can think of. In his first appearance, he commits a series of spectacular crimes, builds a large criminal organization, steals continental defense plans from the United States government, and then attempts to extort millions of dollars from the U.S. government by publicly threatening to sell the plans to communists unless he receives 10 million dollars. The Vanisher, with a large group of non-mutant followers, then goes to the front lawn of the White House to await his payment. Professor Xavier and the X-Men are able to intervene when Xavier induces amnesia upon the Vanisher. Forgetting he has mutant powers, the Vanisher is taken into police custody and the rest of the X-Men defeat the unruly followers.

The Vanisher eventually regains his memory and joins Factor Three, a subversive organization of mutants who seek world domination. Factor Three is opposed by the X-Men when they attempt to start World War III between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Vanisher meets the X-Men again, but this time as allies, when the Mutant Master, leader of Factor Three, is revealed to be an alien of the Siris race. The Mutant Master has a plan to conquer Earth. The rest of Factor Three, including the Vanisher, team up with the X-Men to defeat him. The Vanisher was later held prisoner by the Sentinels, and was released through the X-Men's intervention.

The Vanisher disappears for a while but eventually comes out of hiding to fight the Champions. To do so, he becomes a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and uses reprogrammed Sentinels. He is defeated by the Champions and is trapped in mid-teleportation by Darkstar. He also joins a group of villains to challenge the Fantastic Four, but is defeated.

After traveling in another dimension with Nightcrawler, and returning to Earth, the Vanisher returns to Earth to lead a group of young mutant thieves known as the Fallen Angels. Eventually they disband, and the Vanisher is left to his own devices.

The Vanisher then keeps to himself for a long period of time, until he is mentally controlled by Asylum to attack the New Warriors and other super heroes. Darkling, a superhuman who also uses energies from the Darkforce Dimension, is defeated and the Vanisher regains his free will. Later, the Vanisher joins a second incarnation of the Enforcers, called the New Enforcers. The New Enforcers were a consortium that operated in obscurity. Along with Eel and a woman named Blitz, the Vanisher is part of the Outer Circle of the Enforcers, and becomes involved in a clash between the criminal organizations A.I.M. and HYDRA. The New Enforcers are confronted and eventually defeated by Spider-Man.




X-Teams
At some point, the Vanisher seeks to understand his powers in greater detail. He visits the Darkforce dimension but is captured by its inhabitants. They force him to read them stories. He is rescued by X-Force's Warpath, who had been manipulated into performing the mission.

The Vanisher resurfaces as a leader of a South American drug cartel which was producing and distributing drugs such as Mutant Growth Hormone, throughout the Americas. Stacy X, Iceman and Archangel were instrumental in stopping his North American operations.


X-Force
Vanisher is one of the few mutants that retained their superhuman powers after the M-Day. He resurfaces in Japan, hired to steal a vial of the long-thought destroyed Legacy Virus from one of Mr. Sinister's labs. Cyclops has ordered X-Force to recover it at all costs. In a confrontation with X-Force, he is injured and given a terminal brain tumor by Elixir, in order to secure his co-operation in retrieving the virus. He transports the team to one of the bases, only to be attacked by clones of the Marauders and soldiers of The Right, under command of the resurrected Cameron Hodge. During the battle, he teleports away. He is later seen bound and gagged and is seemingly forcibly inducted into the ranks of X-Force, for use as transport and extraction.

When the Sapien League starts abducting mutants and infecting them with a modified version of the Legecy Virus, Vanisher is teamed up with Warpath. While at an anti-mutant rally, he tries to get Warpath to leave with him, offering to take him to a brothel in Portugal only to be told to be ready in case anything bad happened. He teleports X-Force to the Leper Queen and manages to disarm her before being sent off into the future by Cyclops.


Messiah War
Upon arriving in the future, Vanisher tries to teleport only to fail because something is blocking his powers. He is then shot in the neck by Deadpool. After being healed by Elixir, Wolverine makes him stay in front of the group in case there are anymore snipers. When ambushed by Stryfe's forces, Vanisher is ordered by Wolverine to protect Elixir and Hope Summers. After defeating Stryfe's forces, they split up with Vanisher going with Domino, X-23 and Deadpool to find out what has been blocking his powers and their time-travel devices. During this time he begins showing signs of serious illness. Together with Laura they find the problem, Kiden Nixon. Vanisher tries to convince Domino to commit a mercy killing but Laura is having a hard time dealing with Kiden's stituation. When the timers run out, Domino kills Kiden and upon discovering they're still in the future. They're left wondering why they didn't automatically return to the present. When Vanisher removes his timer he instantly appears in the present at the ruins of the Xaiver Institute.


Necrosha
Back in the present, Vanisher's condition worsens. Needing help he teleports to Utopia right in the middle of the battle between Selene's forces and the X-Men. He is rescued by Cyclops from an attack by Tarot and ordered to take Emma Frost to safety. Before Vanisher can react, they're attacked by Banshee. He then teleports off to the medical lab looking for Elixir. Upon finding Elixir in a coma Vanisher watches over him until Josh wakes up. He asks for the tumor to be removed only to be told to teleport X-Force to Genosha. On Genosha, Elixir reveals he removed the tumor in the future and that the Vanisher is actually suffering from stage 4 Syphilis. Elixir tells him to leave because that's what he's good at and Vanisher teleports off. Vanisher teleports into Selene's fortress to rescue Warpath and engages in a battle with Blink, who teleports his arm off before he teleports out. Rescuing the other members of X-Force and getting them to safety, he tells Elixir that Warpath was always nice to him and demands to be healed.

During the final confrontation with Selene and her Inner Circle, he works alongside Archangel and Domino in taking out Blink. Once the mission is over, Vanisher and Domino go to Brazil for some rest and relaxation.


Second Coming
Upon Cable and Hope Summers return to the present, Cyclops orders Domino and Vanisher to stand by in San Francisco. Learning that Bastion was targeting teleporters to prevent the reunion of the so-called "Mutant Messiah" with the X-Men, Cyclops gives Domino instructions to bring Vanisher back to Utopia but he hears it and teleports to his hideout in Portugal only to find his girls dead and Steven Lang and his men awaiting him. Vanisher is then shot multiple times before teleporting away, being left for dead in the middle of nowhere. After this, the X-Men consider him missing in action.


Regenesis
Vanisher turns up alive in New York. He is a member of a group of Marauders that are brainwashed to attack the X-Men.

Vanisher is later found by Juggernaut and is coerced into taking him to where the Gem of Cyttorak is currently located.

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