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Marius St Croix
Emplate, was originally known as Marius St. Croix, a member of the wealthy St. Croix family. Him and his sisters Monet St. Croix and twins Nicole and Claudette St. Croix, were raised in a pampered environment, privileged and rich, in Monaco. All four siblings were to eventually manifest powers in their early teenage years, marking them out as mutants. Tragically Marius mutant power made him dependent on others genetic material to survive and his very own mother became the very first victim of his powers and hunger. Although the circumstances of her death were mysterious and unknown, Cartier St. Croix, Marius father suspected him of foul doing.  Cast out from the family, he had to now make his own way. Marius turned to dark magic to help him get by and gain more power. Although he was always resentful of Monet he turned to her with grand delusions of power and dreams of authority and rule. She would not agree with him, or partake in his sinister schemes and she refused him with a defiant and insulting emphasis.  
Angered and insulted, Marius transformed and trapped Monet into a red mute shell, known as Penance. As it would unfold, the twins, Nicole and Claudette would arrive home and find Emplate with this red shell being Penance. Fearful of Emplate and what might have happened to their older sister, they used their powers on him, to teleport him away sending him to an unknown, dangerous, inhospitable dimension. Believing that he was the only one who could revert her to normal, Monet, now Penance jumps into the portal after Emplate to join him in this new dimension. Many years pass, as Marius learns and powers himself, and eventually he learns how to travel through dimensions and break free from the dimension that has been his prison for so long. His appearance has changed dramatically, and he also now refers to himself as Emplate.      


Emplate is a Marvel comics character, created by Scott Lobdell and Chris Bachalo. He was created for use in the Generation X book, a spin off book from Uncanny X-Men. Emplate would go on to be a reoccurring antagonist for Generation X characters. His first appearance was in Generation X #1. The character has been a source of confusion for many fans, owing to several writers picking up and running with the character before his, or the origins of his fictional siblings were finished or completed. Ideas such as Monet being combined twins Nicole and Claudette, and when separated they would be almost normal, with one sister having autism, forcing an interesting dilemma for headmasters of Generation X, Emma Frost and Banshee, on whether to keep both sisters merged as M, or separated. Such decisions ultimately factoring in on Marius origin as well.       

Character Evolution

Emplate has had an interesting but fairly convoluted history, introduced as the Generation X's main nemesis he has appeared often in the title as its reoccurring main villain. It has been revealed by Scott Lobdell, in an interview that Emplate is short for Template, because he takes on the attributes of those he feasts upon the genetic marrow. For a time, Emplate gestated with his two sisters, the M Twins, to become a powerful being named M-Plate. In Bishop and Shard's future there was a group called the Emplates, who resembled Emplate and preyed on mutants. Since later it was discovered that Emplate can infect another individual with his powers, it makes sense that Emplate would be the progenitor of the group from Bishop's timeline. Emplate has a sidekick he names D.O.A. This vertically challenged servant fulfills somewhat of a butler role for Emplate except he has an insidious smile, a pension for pain, and travels with Marius through dimensions.

Major Story Arcs 

Early Life

Emplate was born Marius St. Croix and was the first child of his family. As he grew up he later welcomed sisters Monet and later Claudette and Nicole. He resented Monet greatly as she was the perfect child; she was well mannered excelled at sports, arts, academia everything. She also was the favorite child of the family and he often found his only company being his mom.  When his powers first began manifesting, he had pains in his abdomen  constantly along with headaches. Doctors didn't know what to do to help him and he found himself staying at home with his mom more and more as his dad and the girls were always out. One day however as his mother comforted him and the mouths manifested on his palms for the first time he knew exactly what he needed and  consumed the life force of his mother killing her. 

His mother's death was mysterious and since his father blamed him without knowing he was the one who had actually killed her, his father cast him out of the house. On the streets he fed on all he could until he returned and tried to recruit Monet to join him in conquering the world. Monet mocked him and turned down his offer. Having had enough of her snide and belittling remarks he used his powers to turn Monet into a mute creature with diamond hard skin who cannot touch anything without ripping it and devoid of beauty. At that moment the M-Twins come in and finds their brother and a strange creature in Monet's room. Knowing their father told him to never come back and fearing for what has happened to Monet, they send him to another dimension. As the portal closes in on him however he tells Monet he is the only one who can change her back and she dives into the portal behind him. Emplate would then suck the life force from Monet to keep himself alive for many years to come. 

First Encounter with Generation X

Emplate vs Generation-X

It was inside this different dimension that Emplate developed the need for a gigantic purple respirator. This dimension Marius was condemned to is said to be constant and horrific torture by other worldly beings ripping at your flesh. This banishment was certainly more than enough cause for Emplate to have bitter deep-seeded hatred for his sisters and would serve as his main motivation for his constant attacks on Generation X, a team that included the St. Croix twins (united as one person, and posing as sister monet/M), and, later (after the first issue, Penance, his captive and constant food supply).

Emplate makes his comic book debut in Generation X #1, where he is mentioned not by name when the M-Twins posing as Monet sees Gateway. He then informs them that their brother is back. Emplate is in a limo outside a airport waiting for Chamber to get their so he can siphon off his abilities. He goes into the airport and he doesn't seem to like humans. He attacks Chamber, and is attacked by Banshee in turn, who's powers don't seem to have an affect on him. He battles Banshee and Synch while he continues to supp on Chamber. The young mutant proves powerful and lashes out at the villain with his powers. Emplate is shocked by this as in all his years their has never been a mutant to use their powers while he was feeding on them. He then phases away promising he will return. He goes back to his hideout to feed on Penance only to discover that she has escaped.  

Emplate Attacks

Emplate Triumphant 
The next time he shows up he manages to turn Synch  into a mutant vampire like himself and sets things in motion for the boy to kill his parents and siblings thus corrupting him potentially forever. The girls of gen x track him down and mange to stop him before its too late. They fight him and manage to remind him of his humanity and thus free him from Emplates control. In another bid to regain Penance  he assembles a team called the Hellions comprised of D.O.A his butler,  Gayle Edgerton Bulwark Murmur  and  Vincente . Each of them he outfitted with the power to feed like him. With his new vampiric horde he attacked the team and managed to capture the entire team, but when he offered Penance  the chance to return to him she attacked him brutally and with the timely arrival of the x-man Bishop, both him and his team were defeated. He vowed to return and phased away again.
Emplate returned again with the mutant Chimera as an ally. This time he managed to fuse with his sister the M-Twins and they became M-Plate . He then used his newly acquired power to jump to the edge of time to the universal amagamator to try and fuse all conscious thought into one and absorb it thus becoming a god. His plans failed thanks to Dirt Nap who consumed the fused state and returned them all to individuals the girls were free and Emplate vanished yet again. Emplate made a finale attempt on Gen X with a revamped team but again he was defeated by them and thanks to an explosion triggered by Jubilee  the twins who were trapped in the penance body were free and he was rendered unconscious. 

Revelations and M-Day

X-Men: Legacy #228
As a prisoner of Generation X, he met with his father for the first time in years and revealed to him and Monet that he had been the one to kill his mother all along. He also revealed that Marious his human side had died on that day with his mother and all that was left was emplate. He soon escaped again and it took years for him to recover from his injuries. When the Scarlet Witch removed the abilities of many mutants on M-Day he was left with all his abilities intact. Returned to full power he decides it is time to make his triumphant return. He starts off by visiting the Xavier Institute where he kills a few workers before learning that the mutants had moved to utopia. Once there he attacks Madison Jeffries and Danger. He briefly fights the X-men and defeats them, he then feeds on jeffries and having gotten the information he needed he phases back to his dimension. Once there he reveals to D.O.A.  that penance is no longer among their ranks and through his borrowed memories he sets his sights on the young mutant Bling! .
He quickly captures the girl and feeds on her then placing her in a holding cell. He shares his history with her and after mentioning that his "tormentors" were fast approaching he feeds on her again. She is eventually rescued by Rogue of the X-men after she absorbs many powers to enter his dimension. Rogue cause him to lose his castle and be completely drained and even stranded in the real world. Defeated he was tossed back into his dimension alone, even D.O.A having abandoned him. As the beings from his dimension feed on him he vows revenge on the X-men for this defeat.

Powers and Abilities

Emplate's Palm Mouths 

Emplate has a multitude of powers, his most predominant powers being that of absorption though way of vampirism. He is In the most basic of terms a mutant vampire. It is said that his powers manifested themselves naturally, like most mutants. His powers differ from those of a typical vampire, having to "supp" on the bone marrow of mutants being the main difference. Feeding on the marrow of other mutants in essence preserves Emplates life and gives him the strength to remain in this dimension. As a direct result of 'feeding', Emplate is able to use the powers from the mutant he has sampled marrow from. While mutants are being subjected to this feeding, they are unable to use their mutant abilities (so far one exception being  Chamber, a mutant and member of Gen X who has psionic blasts erupt from his chest cavity and mouth, since Chamber is believed to be composed of psionic energy and has no marrow) The feeding of mutants occurs in the tiny, mouth like structures on the palms of Marius. These tiny mouths are filled with sharp teeth and are able to siphon the energy and marrow from mutants on skin contact.. 

Emplate also possesses mutant detection powers, and also has the ability to see a mutants 'aura' or energy signals that all mutants give off. This is especially helpful in tracking down his next victim. It is also a helpful indicator and gauge for the raw power of mutants (hence, his attack on Chamber, a mutant speculated to be omega level). Through these aura's, Emplate is able to 'read' his opponents and learn things from them that they have not concealed to him. This includes basic knowledge like names, age, etc, and the history of a person with their personality, but also includes the way mutants are feeling (scared, excited, angry, etc.) This gives Emplate a distinct advantage in attacking several mutants at once or even a single mutant by themselves. Seeing auras can also help him track other mutants. 

Another power that Marius exhibits is his ability to 'turn' mutants, into familiars, much in the way a vampire will create another vampire. These 'turned' mutants serve the will of Emplate and are given certain vampiric powers similar to his. Victims also receive the tiny mouths on the palms of their hands and have the desire to 'feed' just as Marius does. This power was first discovered in Gen-X 14 where Emplate 'turns'  Synch, a member of Gen-X. Synch manages to overcome the desire to feed which leads to the idea that there are psionic works in play in order for the mutant to be turned. 

Emplate also possesses teleportation powers and has the ability to phrase. This is because he is able to flicker in and out of dimensions. This allows him to walk this dimension invisible to all. It takes energy to transition from each dimension and so he must feed almost immediately after these transitions take place. It is impossible to detect Marius in this dimension if he chooses to not be seen (leaves no heat trail, etc). It is simply like looking for something that doesn't exist. The dimensional aspects of his invisibility make him one of the most, if not the best invisibility powers of the Marvel universe.   

Physical Characteristics 
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 156 lbs
Hair: Grey
Eyes: Grey

Alternate Realities

Earth-295 - Age of Apocalypse

Emplate is a member of Sinister's Elite Mutant Force and his teamed up with the Monets.  He and the Elite Mutant force are hired by Sinister to find the Flatscan prisoner Christopher Summers.  He finds Christopher and knocks him down during the fight but ends up getting shot in the chest with a hand gun by Christopher, killing him, traumatizing his sisters making them catatonic and useless to sinister in the process.  This Emplate is more human in appearance, and is seen mostly using his power to track other mutants as well as enhanced strength.  

Earth-41001 - X-Men: The End

Emplate appears in this alternate reality story which details the last years of the X-Men.

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