The team known as the Mutant Force began as a loose collection of super-powered mutants (Burner, Lifter, Peepers, Shocker, and Slither) organized by Magneto when he was seeking to conquer the world. The group aided Magneto in kidnapping the mutant known as Mister One and in battling Captain America, but the group failed to stop him. Believing the mutants to be failures, Magneto soon abandoned the group.
The mutants hoped to become mercenaries, and they were soon found by another mutant, the Mandrill, who first gave the team the name Mutant Force. Mandrill sent the team as his agents to attack a Untied States Air Force base and in raiding a gold supply. But the Mutant Force was taken captive by the Defenders. To avoid prison terms, Mutant Force was sent to work for the United States government, for whom they battled the Hulk.
Mutant Force recruited to work for the subversive organization called the Secret Empire. Led by another Secret Empire operative, Mad-Dog, the Mutant Force attacked the Defenders at the wedding of one of their members, Hellcat, who happened to be Mad-Dog's ex-wife. Defeated by the Defenders, Mad-Dog and Mutant Force were taken into custody by the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D., but the Secret Empire released Mad-Dog and Mutant Force, who both then aided the Empire's new leader, Professor Power, in his attempt to launch a satellite that would trigger a major nuclear war. The Defenders managed to thwart the scheme with the aid of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Mad-Dog and Mutant Force were again captured.
The team reinvented itself, with new code names and new members, forming the Resistants in public opposition of the Mutant Registration Act, an act of Congress that was proposed in order to force mutants to register their abilities with the federal government. Their public protests were opposed by Captain America (John Walker, the U.S.Agent) his partner Battlestar, Freedom Force. Several of the Resistants were badly injured, and the team was remanded to custody.
Mutant Force (Burner, Lifter, Peeper, Shocker, and Slither) returned to their original code names, but their short-lived return to crime was cut short by the New Warriors were returned to custody. Since then, only Peepers has reappeared a number of times, first in custody of S.H.I.E.L.D. and most recently as a member of a band of mutant refugees dubbed the 198.
