Warren Kenneth Worthington IIIAngel

One of the original X-Men, the wealthy Warren Worthington III is a mutant with the power of flight and recognized by his angel-like wings.

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2
durability
1
energy
4
fighting skills
2
strength
3
intelligence
3
speed

Biography

Biography

Armed with feathered wings, Warren Worthington III becomes a costumed crimefighter before joining the heroic mutant X-Men team as founding member.

 

Avenging Angel

Born into an extremely wealthy family in Centerport, Long Island, New York, young Warren Worthington III often concerns his parents, Wallace and Kathryn, when he climbs high up into trees and onto their mansion’s roof, seemingly unafraid of heights. When his parents send him to a prestigious East Coast boarding school, he rooms with Cameron Hodge, who soon becomes his best friend. While there, Warren’s life changes forever the day he begins sprouting wings from his shoulder blades. Initially alarmed, Warren grows to relish the freedom of flight. Still, he straps the wings tightly to his back to avoid attracting attention as a mutant. 

Later, when there is a fire in his dormitory, Warren dons a blond wig and long nightshirt to disguise himself as an anonymous “angel” and saves the other students. Subsequently, Warren becomes a costumed crimefighter as the Avenging Angel. Word of his heroics attract the attention of Professor Charles Xavier, AKA Professor X, who recruits Warren as a founding member of his mutant X-Men team. He eventually drops the “Avenging” in his name and goes by Angel, training with the heroes to protect mutants and humans alike. While attending Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, Warren graduates and receives a college degree.

 

The Power of Flight

Angel has fully feathered wings that span 16’ and have a very flexible skeletal structure. He can fly by flapping his wings, attaining an average cruising speed of around 70 mph. He can reach speeds of up to 150 mph without a tail wind for up to half an hour, and can perform diving swoops of up to 180 mph. Though he generally flies below the height of clouds at 6,500 feet, Angel can reach a height of 10,000 feet with little effort, and can attain the highest recorded altitude of a bird in flight (29,000 feet) with severe strain. His wings are strong enough to carry aloft at least 200 pounds in addition to his own body weight. 

Angel’s entire anatomy is adapted for flight, having hollow bones, a body virtually devoid of fat, muscle mass proportionately greater than a similarly-sized human, eyes that can withstand high-speed winds, enhanced eyesight enabling him to see at distances far greater than the average human, and a special respiratory membrane that extracts oxygen from the air at high velocities and altitudes. Angel’s body also produces less-than-average fatigue toxins during physical exertion, allowing him to travel under his own power nonstop for approximately 12 hours before tiring. Angel possesses a healing factor that can repair damaged tissue at an accelerated speed. He can recover from non-fatal wounds within a matter of hours, heal broken bones within days, and can fully recover from most known diseases. Angel can also heal others by mixing his blood with theirs, so long as they have a compatible blood type.

When En Sabah Nur, AKA Apocalypse, genetically alters Angel’s skin turns blue and his feathers are coated with a razor-sharp organic steel-like material. He can expel these biometallic feathers at great speed and with tremendous force, enabling them to pierce even steel. The feathers are tipped with a paralyzing chemical generated by his body to which he was immune. With his metal wings, Angel can fly at just over the speed of sound (around 770 mph at sea level). He also briefly possesses the ability to use the remaining energy that Apocalypse had endowed him with to convert his wings into solid light, to form energy talons, and to heal others.

Warren often wears a harness to help conceal his wings underneath his clothes. As the Avenging Angel, he carries a gun loaded with knockout gas pellets. When blue-skinned, Warren uses a holographic image inducer to grant himself a normal appearance. For a short time he wields the Soulsword of the Exile Magik, which can shear through metal and deflect plasma blasts. At one point, Warren is endowed with cosmic powers after submitting to the Black Vortex, an artifact that grants these abilities. In doing so, he gains wings of light but he ultimately surrenders the powers.

Warren is a skilled combatant, especially in aerial hand-to-hand combat. He is also a talented businessman whose wealth ranks him in the lower part of the Fortune 500 list.

 

Adversaries

With the X-Men and fighting alongside other costumed adventurers, Warren faces threats including Xavier’s nemesis Max Eisenhardt, AKA Magneto, and his Brotherhood of Mutants, Vanisher, Fred Dukes, AKA Blob, the Mad Thinker and Awesome Android, AKA Awesome Andy, Ymir the Frost Giant, Menace and his Mutantmen, Cain Marko, AKA Juggernaut, and the Sentinels.

Cameron Hodge is Warren’s boarding school roommate and best friend until he uses the heroic team X-Factor’s resources (supplied by Warren) to fund his anti-mutant hate group. Hodge is eventually defeated by Warren with the help of the X-Men.

When Warren loses his wings, Warren willingly joins the mutant warlord Apocalypse when he offers to restore them. Apocalypse has other plans to turn him into his Horsemen of Death and succeeds, altering Warren’s appearance and giving him steel wings. Escaping his clutches, Warren is later restored to his former feathered glory.

 

Heroic and Villainous Alliances

After saving fellow students from a dormitory fire and becoming the Avenging Angel who fights crime, X-Men leader Professor X seeks Warren out, and he becomes a founding member of his X-Men. Having lost both his parents, Warren considers the -Men his surrogate family, bickering and fighting but also protecting and defending his teammates. With the X-Men, Angel battles fearsome foes and encounters fellow costumed crimefighters, such as the Fantastic Four, the Avengers and Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man.

Over the years, Warren has had a few romantic relationships, like dating policewoman Charlotte Jones, Alison Blaire, AKA Dazzler, Wanda Maximoff, AKA Scarlet Witch, Candy Southern, and fellow X-Men member, Psylocke. He also harbors an attraction to Jean Grey, AKA Phoenix, but never acts on it since she is committed to their teammate, Scot Summers, AKA Cyclops.

The X-Men expand their ranks and with their training complete, Warren joins with Bobby Drake, AKA Iceman, and after a conflict with the Olympian Gods alongside Heracles, AKA Hercules, Natasha Romanoff, AKA Black Widow, and Johnny Blaze, AKA Ghost Rider, they form the Champions of Los Angeles. Black Widow leads and Warren funds the team. They fight many famous Super Villains alongside Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye, Two-Gun Kid, Black Goliath, Stranger, and Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man. Laynia Petrovna, AKA Darkstar, a former enemy turned ally also joins the squad. Though eventually the team’s internal problems lead Warren to disband the team.

Warren is also a part of the heroic groups Secret Defenders, X-Factor/X-Terminators, and The Defenders, while he inherits membership to the Hellfire Club from his father; later he is manipulated into joining the Renegades solely for his wealth; and becomes a Horsemen of Apocalypse and is a part of Death’s Champions.

height

6'

weight

150 lbs.

gender

Male

eyes

Blue

hair

Blond

Universe, Other Aliases, Education, Place of Origin, Identity, Known Relatives, Powers, Group Affiliation
  • Universe

  • Other Aliases

  • Education

  • Place of Origin

  • Identity

  • Known Relatives

  • Powers

  • Group Affiliation

Angel’s Account

In the early years while part of the X-Men, young telepath Jean Grey joined the team and Warren was instantly attracted to her. However, Jean had caught the eye of their teammate Cyclops, which created an awkward love triangle. Eventually realizing that Jean was in love with Cyclops, Warren stopped pursuing her. Soon after, Warren briefly romanced the Scarlet Witch, before rekindling his relationship with an old flame, Candy Southern, and the pair became inseparable.

After Xavier’s seeming death, FBI Agent Fred Duncan ordered the X-Men to disband. During this time, agents of the criminal Dazzler killed Warren’s father. Investigating, Warren was shocked to learn that the Dazzler was his Uncle Burt, who had been using his brother’s company as a cover for his crimes. In the ensuing battle, Warren dropped the Dazzler from a great height and presumed him dead.

Subsequently, the X-Men reunited and clashed with the pterodactyl-like Sauron, leading to a confrontation with their old foe Magneto in the Antarctic jungle the Savage Land that ended with Magneto believed dead. After Xavier’s return, he bade the X-Men return to the Savage Land and ascertain Magneto’s true fate. There, Warren befriended Avia, a female member of the Nhu-Gari tribe; she was captured alongside Warren by the nefarious Krueger, who sought to sell them to the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, but the plan was thwarted by the X-Men. 

Warren later learned that his Uncle Burt survived and was planning to marry Warren’s mother Kathryn in an effort to secure the family fortune. Furthermore, Burt had secretly arranged for Kathryn to be gradually poisoned by the family doctor. Warren and the X-Men foiled Burt’s plan, though too late to save Kathryn, who died in her son’s arms.

Following a surprise attack by a returned Magneto, Warren found himself separated from his teammates. While searching for them, he was attacked by the Secret Empire and later rescued by his teammates with the help of Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America and Sam Wilson, AKA Falcon. After the sentient island Krakoa captured Warren and the X-Men, Professor X assembled a second squad of X-Men to rescue them. They failed, however, forcing Xavier to recruit a third team who were ultimately successful. After these failures, most of the original students—including Warren—left the team. Their training long since complete, they wished to follow individual pursuits and felt the newly expanded group no longer needed them; in addition, Angel intensely disliked new recruit James Howlett/Logan, AKA Wolverine, regarding him as a dangerous savage.

Warren and his fellow former X-Man Iceman planned on going to college, but they were pulled into a conflict with the Olympian Gods alongside Hercules, Black Widow, and Ghost Rider. The quintet subsequently formed a Los Angeles-based super-team, the Champions. Warren revealed to the general public that he was the Angel, though his connection to Xavier’s school remained secret, and he inherited his parents’ fortune. He was the primary driving force behind the Champions’ formation and served as the group’s financier, though Black Widow became the actual team leader. 

Sometimes aided by allies such as Hawkeye, the time-displaced Two-Gun Kid, Black Goliath, the enigmatic alien Stranger, elite intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and Iron Man, Angel and the Champions fought menaces such as high-tech lunatic Stuart Clarke, AKA Rampage, Russian super-agents Crimson Dynamo and Darkstar (who switched sides and joined the Champions) and Boris Bullski, AKA Titanium Man, the monstrous Eliot Franklin, AKA Griffin, Warlord Kaa’s shadow warriors, the telescoping-legged Wilbur Day, AKA Stilt-Man, cosmic scholar Kamo Tharnn, AKA Possessor, sentient bee colony Fritz Von Meyer, AKA Swarm, giant reptilian monster Godzilla, mutated genius George Tarleton, AKA M.O.D.O.K., and his subversive group Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.), Latverian tyrant Victor von Doom, AKA Doctor Doom, and Sentinels controlled by the Vanisher. 

However, the team’s greatest foes were internal problems. Corrupt contractors had used low-quality materials in the high-tech headquarters and accessories Warren bought for the group, leading to frequent malfunctions, and the team’s always-mismatched roster fought among themselves frequently until everyone but Angel finally quit.

Formally disbanding the Champions, Warren later rejoined the X-Men. However, his disapproval of Wolverine soon led him to quit again. Soon after, Angel was kidnapped by Callisto, leader of the subterranean Morlock community, who sought to marry Warren. He was rescued after the X-Man Storm challenged Callisto to a duel and won, thus becoming the Morlocks’ new leader. 

After declining an invitation to join the Avengers, Angel teamed with Spider-Man, Kevin Plunder, AKA Ka-Zar, and the X-Men to defeat Karl Lykos, AKA Sauron, and the Savage Land Mutates, helped the Avengers battle his rampaging ex-Champions teammate Ghost Rider, defeated his French counterpart Le Peregrine during En Dwi Gast, AKA Grandmaster’s “Contest of Champions,” and befriended and romantically pursued the new Dazzler, singer Alison Blaire.

Later, Angel joined The Defenders alongside Iceman when that group reorganized as a more formal team under the leadership of another former X-Man, Hank McCoy, AKA Beast. Angel financed the new group, managed for a time by Candy, and provided a base of operations at his New Mexico mountain estate. Angel and Iceman both became infatuated with their new teammate Heather Douglas, AKA Moondragon, though nothing came of it. Following clashes with Mutant Force, Edward Cobert, AKA Leviathan, and the Walrus, the Defenders were attacked by their teammate Moondragon when she was possessed by the mystic Dragon of the Moon. Moondragon held Candy captive and while Warren, Beast, and Iceman rescued Candy and other endangered innocents, the other Defenders defeated the Dragon but turned to dust in the process. Demoralized and understaffed, the three remaining Defenders broke up.

Warren next reunited with the other original X-Men in forming X-Factor, an organization that posed as mutant hunters but secretly helped mutants in need. A rift between his teammates Cyclops and the newly resurrected Jean Grey rekindled Warren’s old romantic interest in Jean (though he never acted on it), eventually estranging Candy. Warren’s old friend Hodge was employed as X-Factor’s public relations manager, but he had come to hate mutants and secretly used X-Factor’s resources to fuel anti-mutant sentiment. 

Soon after, Warren’s status as X-Factor’s secret financial backer was leaked to the media, causing great controversy. During the Marauders’ massacre of the subterranean Morlock community, the Marauder Harpoon damaged Warren’s wings. Rescued by God of Thunder Thor Odinson, AKA Thor, Warren was hospitalized and Hodge tricked the doctors there into needlessly amputating his wings. Unaware of his friend’s manipulation, Warren named Hodge beneficiary of his assets. With Warren deeply depressed after the loss of his wings, his break-up with Candy, and the controversy surrounding X-Factor, Hodge sabotaged Warren’s plane in an attempt to kill him and create the appearance of suicide.

Though the world believed him dead, Warren was rescued by the eternal mutant Apocalypse, who offered to restore his wings. Desperate, Warren agreed, and through technological and genetic manipulation (which turned his skin blue) he was given razor-sharp metal wings. Warren’s reservations were removed by a drug and he became Apocalypse’s Horseman Death, attacking New York City alongside his fellow Horsemen. After being tricked into believing he had killed Iceman, Warren broke Apocalypse’s programming and struck off on his own, too ashamed to rejoin X-Factor. During this time, Warren learned that Hodge had used X-Factor’s assets to fund his own anti-mutant organization known as The Right. Warren sought to make Hodge pay for his betrayal, but upon tracking him down he discovered that Hodge had kidnapped Candy. In the ensuing clash, Hodge killed Candy and Warren decapitated Hodge in retaliation. Warren subsequently rejoined X-Factor as Archangel, and later saved the life of policewoman Charlotte Jones. The two became romantically involved, and Charlotte helped Warren in reclaiming his humanity.

Following an attack on the X-Men and their allies by agents of the island nation Genosha, Warren learned that Hodge had survived, having bargained with a demon who granted him eternal life, and that he had positioned himself as the power behind Genosha. Ultimately, the heroes prevailed and Hodge was defeated. After X-Factor’s members rejoined the X-Men, a mutual attraction developed between Warren and his teammate Psylocke and the pair began dating. 

During this period, Warren teamed with Spider-Man, the New Warriors, the Avengers, and other heroes to battle Darkling, whose Darkforce temporarily corrupted and controlled Archangel and other morally conflicted heroes before Darkling’s defeat. The mystic Anthony Ludgate Druid, AKA Doctor Druid, later tricked Archangel and Iceman into participating in a Secret Defenders mission that pitted them against old Champions foe Swarm, never learning who had manipulated them. Having inherited Hellfire Club membership from his father, Warren declined an offer from the Club’s then-Black King Shinobi Shaw to join its Inner Circle as the White King.

In the wake of a savage attack by the feral mutant Victor Creed, AKA Sabretooth, Warren and Psylocke briefly left the X-Men to recuperate. Refusing another offer of Avengers membership, the wounded Warren was already easing back into X-Men business when his metallic wings molted, revealing that his original, feathered wings had grown back underneath. Later, when Professor X disbanded the X-Men in an attempt to ferret out an alien imposter, Warren joined an ad-hoc team of X-Men to help the young mutant Mannites battle Apocalypse’s latest Horseman Death, secretly his former X-Men teammate Wolverine. Despite his responsibilities as head of Worthington Industries taking precedence, Warren continued to aid the X-Men, such as when he helped Wolverine overcome Apocalypse’s brainwashing. This resulted in the last vestiges of Apocalypse’s power in Warren’s body granting him the ability to heal, which he used on the paralyzed Abraham Kieros, AKA War, Apocalypse’s former Horseman. Eventually, Warren and Psylocke mutually agreed to end their relationship after realizing they were both too different. Warren subsequently committed himself to the X-Men full-time, even serving as team leader for a while.

After Professor X was publicly exposed as a mutant, Warren took a more public role in his business activities, speaking to the G8 summit about mutants in the world economy. When plant-like mutant Black Tom Cassidy captured the X-Men, Warren’s skin reverted to normal after Tom drained some of his lifeforce. Recovering from his injuries, Warren underwent a secondary mutation that unlocked healing properties in his blood. After Xavier Institute student Paige Guthrie, AKA Husk, uncovered corruption within Worthington Industries, she and Warren investigated and encountered mutant werewolves the Dominant Species, whose leader, Maximus Lobo, claimed to have been the one who killed Warren’s father. When the werewolves severely injured Husk, Warren used his newfound power to save her life, and the pair briefly became romantically involved. 

Battling the Dominant Species again alongside the X-Men and the dimension-hopping Exiles, Warren wielded the Soulsword belonging to the Exile Illyana Rasputin, AKA Magik of Earth-4210, which she later bequeathed to him as a gift. Following the discovery of the ruins of an ancient mutant civilization, Warren and his teammates encountered Azazel, a self-proclaimed mutant from biblical times who led the demonic mutant Neyaphem clan of which Warren’s teammate Kurt Wagner, AKA Nightcrawler, was a descendant. Warren himself was revealed to be the descendant of their mortal enemies, the angelic mutant Cheyarafim clan.

Later, after Cyclops became the Institute’s co-headmaster, he asked Warren to establish a high-profile charity to improve mutantkind’s image. Warren established “Wings over the World,” a recreation center wherein visitors don artificial wings and fly by means of anti-gravity, and later “Mutantes Sans Frontières,” a global outreach organization. Setting up office in Zanzibar, the Hellfire Club’s White Queen Courtney Ross attacked a gala using mercenaries Viper and the Weaponeers. Alongside the Super Hero Askari, and reinforcements from nearby island nation Genosha, the heroes repelled the invaders.

When most of the world’s mutants lost their powers on “M-Day,” Warren retained his; after the remaining still-powered mutants—who had banded together as the 198 under government supervision—escaped their confinement, Warren teamed with Cyclops, Iceman, and Beast to prevent mutant policeman and former X-Man Bishop and Sentinel Squad O*N*E* from re-capturing them, then subsequently teamed with Bishop to help save the 198 from the machinations of mutant-hating O*N*E commander General Lazer. 

Soon thereafter, outlaw boy super-genius Amadeus Cho, AKA Brawn, manipulated Warren and his former Champions teammate Hercules into joining Cho’s cause alongside others as the Renegades. Cho stole $1.2 billion from Warren, seeking to create a sanctuary for the exiled Bruce Banner, AKA Hulk, and Warren left the group.

Since regaining his original feathered wings and more human appearance, Warren has gradually dropped the Archangel name and reclaimed his original Angel alias. He rejoined the X-Men to aid their search for the first mutant child born since “M-Day,” bringing him into conflict with Bennet du Paris, AKA ExodusAcolytes and Nathaniel Essex, AKA Mister Sinister’s Marauders.

Later, Warren and the X-Men joined with the Guardians of the Galaxy against the Slaughter Squad and Thane, son of Thanos, who sought the Black Vortex, a cosmic-power granting artifact. The teams debated over what to do with the vortex while the Slaughter Squad attacked and imbued themselves with cosmic powers. Beast and Angel submitted to gain cosmic powers as well, and Angel’s wings became wings of light. Gamora, Beast, and Angel leave with the Black Vortex intent on reshaping the universe in their own image but then it is stolen by Ronan the Accuser, AKA Ronan. Beast, Angel, and Gamora repent their actions and join with Groot, Cyclops and Iceman, and Katherine “Kitty” Pryde, AKA Kate Pryde, to defeat their enemies.