Hellion (Julian Keller) is a fictional character, a mutant appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was a member of the student body of the Xavier Institute before its closing and was a member of the X-Men's training squad.
Hellion joined the X-Men in Utopia and during the "Second Coming" storyline, loses his hands in a battle to protect the mutant messiah. He subsequently learned to use his telekinetic abilities to telekinetically control his prosthetic hands. He returned to Westchester and joined the Jean Grey Academy led by Wolverine. After the "Secret Wars" storyline, Hellion comes into contact with the Terrigen Mist and nearly dies of M-Pox. During the Krakoan Age, he relocates to Krakoa and participates in the Crucible, which results in his death. He then goes through the mutant resurrection protocols; this resurrection process restores his body, including his hands. During the "From the Ashes" publishing initiative, following the fall of Krakoa, Julian reappears in New York City as the villain known as the Krakoan.
Publication history
In 2003, Hellion first appeared in New Mutants (vol. 2) #2 and was created by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, and Keron Grant. Following the end of Grant Morrison's New X-Men, New Mutants was then relaunched as New X-Men: Academy X in May 2004. Hellion appeared in this series, and the limited series New X-Men: Hellions, as a member of the Hellions. Following the 2005 "Decimation" storyline where most mutants were depowered, the training squads were dismantled and Hellion joined the New X-Men team. The title was later shortened to simply New X-Men when the new creative team of Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost took over the series with issue #20. In 2008, the series ended with issue #46 during the "Messiah Complex" storyline; Hellion is gravely injured during this crossover event.
In 2009, Hellion appears in X-Force (vol. 3) where he is saved by the X-Force team and cured of the Legacy Virus. He then appears in the 2009 "Utopia" storyline set in San Francisco.</blockquote>
Hellion also made guest appearances in the ongoing series X-23 by writer Marjorie Liu. Following the 2011 "X-Men: Schism" crossover event, Wolverine returned to Westchester to open the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning which was the focus of the Wolverine and the X-Men series. Hellion was one of a number of mutant students who enrolled in that school. In 2014, Hellion was then one of the students in the Special Class taught by Spider-Man, in the limited series Spider-Man and the X-Men by writer Elliott Kalan and artist Marco Failla, following Wolverine's death. On Hellion and the room for character growth, Kalan commented:<blockquote>His actions are informed by his experiences as a potential mutant leader with a huge destiny ahead of him whose life unexpectedly fell apart, and his future derailed. Now he doesn't know where he's headed anymore and that makes him lash out. He's got a really good reason to be an angry brat! [...] By the end of this first storyline, Hellion will hopefully be ready once again to become the guy he was always meant to be.</blockquote>
In 2016, Hellion appears in Uncanny Avengers (vol. 3) #6 where he attempts to destroy New Attilan since he is dying of the M-Pox disease after being exposed to the Terrigen Mists. Instead, he is captured by the Inhumans and Medusa vows he will be saved.
During the Krakoan Age, Hellion lived on Krakoa. On Hellion's role as the Krakoan, Lanzing explained:<blockquote>He's always been a fascinating character, but what interested me was lensing our story in on a person who had a genuine grievance in the post-Krakoa era and was properly set up to take on a kind of street-level Magneto role. After all, isn't that the thing about Magneto – that you can genuinely empathize and agree with his point of view? Like Magnus/Erik/Max before him, the Krakoan has a point… but it's coming from a place of deep scarring on his soul.
Hellion has demonstrated quite a significant interest in Sofia Mantega, co-leader of the rival New Mutants squad. The two different personalities had a flirtatious relationship from the beginning, but also often clashed when it came to ideals and beliefs. The two had quite an effect on each other. While Sofia became more rebellious, even helping the Hellions attempt to break Wither out of jail, Julian became more sensitive and more comfortable with his emotions. However, when Sofia rejected Julian's invitation to the school dance, Julian dated all three of the Stepford Cuckoos. By the end of the night, the pair eventually reunited on the dance floor.
Despite his relationship with Sofia, he is particularly hard on her New Mutant teammates like David Alleyne, the New Mutants' other leader, whom he views as possessing a particularly useless mutant power and as a genuine competitor as a leader and strategist. However, when the Blob attacked the school, Julian followed David's plan of attack. He had an on-and-off friendship with Elixir, initially befriending him until he learned of his past as a member of the Reavers. However, they have since reconciled and have a more friendly and supportive relationship. Despite his tumultuous relationship with the New Mutants, he was the one who encouraged Sofia to put her squad back together when they were on the brink of disbanding.
M-Day aftermath
In the aftermath of M-Day, the previous squad system has been abandoned due to the diminished number of powered students. Those left have been placed to join the only squad that would train under the X-Men, called the New X-Men team. Just prior to the competition, Emma asked Julian to make sure that X-23 was eliminated early. However, when given the chance to knock her out, he saved her instead, because he owed her for doing the same during a session in the "Danger Cave". As a result, Emma placed Surge as team leader to punish Julian. Surge and Hellion had a well documented mutual dislike for each other, which only intensified after M-Day. When Sofia overheard Julian saying the depowered David Alleyne no longer belonged at the institute, the also now human Mantega ended her relationship with Keller. She abruptly left the Institute and left Hellion angry and distraught. Julian and Sofia have both been known to dream of each other since Sofia left the school.
Julian, having trouble with his powers, is practicing with Beast in the Danger Room when he accidentally blows a hole in the floor. After taking a shower, he goes looking for Mercury when he comes across Loa, Rockslide, and Anole watching the Young Avengers on TV. He eventually finds a bloodied X-23 and finds out Mercury has been kidnapped by the Facility and tags along. X-23 uses her underworld contacts to find Mercury's captors and Julian is horrified when Laura kills people working for the people who created her and he tells her not to. They head to the Facility and are confronted by Kimura and a squad of guards. After a brief fight, Julian throws Kimura a few miles away and together they find Mercury; when they are confronted by a group of Predator Xs, one injures his shoulder.
Alongside Nori, Hellion is one of the students who was not transported to Limbo. While he and Surge argue about his reckless disregard for her leadership by leaving with X-23 to save Mercury and not telling her, the other students inside the X-Mansion get transported to Limbo while they are still outside. Trance used her powers to get a message to the two. She told them that they were taken to hell and then she said "Belasco" and disappeared. Surge and Hellion went to the Office of National Emergency and learned that Amanda Sefton was in a coma in Germany. The two demanded that they be the ones to go see her. Later Hellion, Surge, and a Sentinel are transported to Limbo by Sefton. They are greeted by thousands if not millions of demons. After Illyana comes to her senses, she teleports everyone back to the X-Mansion.
During the "World War Hulk" storyline, Hellion is one of the students who confront the Hulk when he shows up at the institute. He uses his powers to pin down the Hulk in the first attack but Hulk knocks him away. When Hellion goes in for a second attack he is the first to be defeated. Hulk realizes he is a telekinetic so he gets him out of the way. Hulk smashes his hands together, creating a boom which knocks out Hellion, rupturing his eardrums.
While practicing his powers, Julian complains to Mercury about his powers and says he cannot deal with anything smaller than a refrigerator, and because Marvel Girl is still in space, he is one of the last telekinetics on the planet. Afterwards, he and Mercury are with the Stepford Cuckoos trying to locate the youngest mutant on the planet when Emma Frost asks to see them both for an interview. He reminds Emma about her bizarre trust speech and how she has blown them off since the Purifier attack. He says that she is just putting a little distance between them in case they do not make it.
Later, the students all gather to find out who the youngest student is. During the meeting, Nori kisses Julian in front of Prodigy. Julian pushes her off and notices an upset X-23 leave. He flies off outside and Dust catches up to him. He tells her his best friend is dead, the girl he thought he loves is gone, his mentor flipped out, he cannot stop thinking about a girl who literally scares him, and now he has to deal with Nori. He says it is too hard and while he used to be so sure he has no idea now and there is no one to show him. He then thanks Sooraya for being there. He then walks in on Nori and David in the middle of a fight. He throws David against the ceiling and when he asks Nori if she is OK, David hits him from behind and injures him. He then tells David that he 'didn't kiss her'. to which David replies, 'I know'. He is then told he should go see Elixir about his injuries. Pixie then manages to teleport the team out and are spread between Washington and the institute. He was later seen aboard the X-Jet with Iceman and the New X-Men during the Sentinel attack on the mansion being treated by Mercury. After getting him to what is left of the infirmary, Beast and Prodigy manage to stabilize him.
Julian wakes up in a hotel room, still hooked up to medical equipment, after experiencing flashbacks of his injury. He finds Emma Frost watching over him, who soon informs Julian that the X-Men are no more and that the school is gone. Julian immediately panics, claiming Cessily and Sooraya would never have left him, and asks where Laura is, but Emma tells him that everyone is being taken care of. Julian tells Emma that she is taking away everything from him again and Emma puts him to sleep. When Julian awakens again, Emma is gone and he tries to go back home, only to find his parents have put their house up for sale and moved without telling him. Julian begins to search for Magneto, soon finding him and claiming that Magneto needs him. Magneto refuses, telling him that he knows Julian is extremely hurt by the people he loved, so much so that he wants to hurt them back by joining their "greatest enemy". Magneto leaves Julian, telling him to enjoy his time off because a new war for mutant-kind will come soon enough.
Julian is later kidnapped along with Boom Boom and Surge by the Leper Queen and her Sapien League. The Leper Queen injects him with a modified version of the Legacy Virus. After X-Force comes to save the mutants, they find out Surge and Hellion have been sent to the United Nations building. Before Wolverine can kill the Leper Queen and save Julian, Nori, and Boom-Boom, X-Force is teleported out by Cyclops. However, after completing their mission X-Force travel back in time and head to the United Nations Building to save Julian and Nori, while X-23 saves Boom Boom. Elixir cures Julian and Nori of the Legacy Virus, saving them.
Utopia and Second Coming
When anti-mutant protesters led by Simon Trask march in San Francisco in support of Proposition X, Julian and a number of other mutants attempt to stall their demonstration. When Hellion taunts the protesters, Trask incites a riot. During the chaos, Julian physically assaults Trask on national television. The event calls Norman Osborn and his Dark Avengers to the city to restore order. In the process, Osborn forms his own team of X-Men led by Hellion's former mentor, Emma Frost, and institutes a curfew on the city. Believing this to be a last stand for mutant rights, Hellion gathers a group at a bar owned by the former X-Villain Avalanche with the intent to break curfew and get arrested on TV in non-violent protest. The group fails to make its intended point as Match torches the surrounding area with his powers, and Hellion is arrested by Emma and her Dark X-Men. They are taken into custody after a battle.
Later he is, along with all the other prisoners, saved when Emma and Namor betray Osborn and resides with the rest of the X-Men on Utopia. During the "Necrosha" storyline, Hellion is seen with Surge and Prodigy, fighting the resurrected Rusty Collins.
During the "Second Coming" storyline, Hellion participates in a battle to protect the mutant messiah, Hope, and the remaining mutants on Utopia against Bastion's Nimrod Class Sentinels from the future. During the fight he is overpowered and is injured, losing both of his hands and most of his right forearm. He is placed on life support prior to being shipped to Namor's underwater Atlantean colony for reasons of safety and protection. He is eventually stabilized, but cannot participate in the remaining battle. After the Nimrod fleet is destroyed and Hope defeats Bastion, Hellion confronts her, bitter about his injuries, but is rebuffed by Magneto.
thumb|right|200px|Hellion using his strong telekinetic abilities to telekinetically control his artificial hands.
Following the events of "Second Coming", Hellion is with Kavita Rao, testing metal hands created by Madison Jeffries; however, his telekinetic energy apparently interferes with the operation of cyborg hands or even conventional prosthetic hands, since none can be adapted to his use. After destroying her lab, Rogue comes to collect him to help out rebuild in San Francisco. During the reconstruction of a building, Hellion is resentful of Hope Summers, blaming her for his injuries. While taking out his anger on some old walls he starts becoming reckless and almost hits Hope and a young girl helping her. Hope goes to confront Julian when Karima Shapandar flies towards the trio and begins attacking them. During the ensuing battle, Hellion's powers manifest uniquely as he is able to feel the telekinetic wave and the objects it touches down to their sub-atomic structures, moving it through the empty space within atoms to hit a target behind them. After momentarily disposing of Hellion when he is distracted by the other X-Men, who think he initiated the attack, Karima defeats the team and begins procedures to kill them off, but Hellion engages her a second time in a short and brutal assault fueled by his repressed rage, crushing her in battle. Her human side briefly reasserts itself during the fight, asking Hellion to put her out of her misery and stop her from harming others. He does so, delivering a telekinetic onslaught that leaves her in a coma and possibly brain dead. During a conversation with Cyclops, Hellion shows no remorse for his actions and is informed he is on probation. If he cannot control himself, he will either have to leave Utopia or be locked up in the Brig.
X-23 series
In the X-23 series, Hellion and X-23 address their previous closeness more openly since the events of New X-Men, while he defends her from the scorn of her former New X-Men teammates, who are wary of her due to her involvement with X-Force. After a fire breaks out at a half-way house X-23 was sent to, Hellion goes to visit her in the infirmary on Utopia. When he enters her room, he walks in on what appears to be X-23 stabbing Wolverine. In reality however, Logan's soul has been sent to hell and his body is possessed by a demon. The demon started the fire in the half-way house, murdered its occupants, and has been invading X-23's dreams. While X-23 tries to explain, the demon-possessed Wolverine stabs Hellion in the back. To save his life, X-23 bargains with the demon.
M-Pox
Hellion left Utopia following Wolverine to Westchester to the Jean Grey Academy, which was now headed by Wolverine.
Eight months after the events of the "Secret Wars" storyline, Hellion is shown to be dying of the M-Pox disease after accidentally coming in contact with Terrigen Mist. He attacks Attilan in retaliation, but is defeated by Synapse. Hellion is taken into custody by the Inhumans, with Medusa promising that he will be given medical attention. Hellion is treated and cured of his M-Pox symptoms at the New Attilan General Hospital. As an act of gratitude, he decides to pay the hospital back with volunteer work.
Krakoan Age and aftermath
Hellion later became a citizen of Krakoa when it was established as a mutant nation. He was able to reunite with his fellow Hellions members. He went through the Crucible resulting in his death and subsequent resurrection through the mutant resurrection protocols; this process restored his hands.
After Krakoa relocates to the White Hot Room following Orchis' defeat, Hellion becomes the villain known as the Krakoan in New York City. Ashley Fields, for Screen Rant in 2025, noted that NYX (vol. 2) #8 reminds "fans of Hellion's incredible impact on Wolverine's life" and that the issue "offers a solid look back at her and Hellion's past, but a couple of pages isn't quite enough to capture everything they meant to one another". Fields highlighted that when Laura joined "the Academy X class of students, she wasn't exactly met with a wealth of support. She was met with fear and suspicion, and Hellion stepped up as one of the first people to see beyond that".
Other versions
Age of X
Hellion is a member of the Force Warriors, a select group of telekinetics who rebuild the "Force Walls" (telekinetic shields that protect Fortress X) on a daily basis. His fellow X-Men member Bling! has a fangirl crush on him. Prior to arriving at Fortress X, Hellion was on the run before being attacked by soldiers. During the attack, a laser intended to kill him instantly succeeded in severing his hands and forearms. To replace his lost hands, Hellion utilizes a pair of metal hands that he manipulates with his telekinesis.
House of M
Hellion was a Junior S.H.I.E.L.D. operative, part of Danielle Moonstar's Hellions squad, and was operating under the codename Scion (the name Hellion was chosen to impress Emma Frost. In this reality, Emma was never his adviser. It is unknown why he chose the name Scion in this reality). He was involved with a fellow-Hellion known as Wind Dancer in this reality.
Old Woman Laura
In a possible future, Julian and Laura, who had become the new Wolverine, reestablished their relationship. However, after several years together, he is killed during a superhuman conflict known as the Doom World War.
Reception
Rich Shivener, in his 2014 essay "No Mutant Left Behind: Lessons from New X-Men Academy X", discussed how the series reflects the types of bullying defined by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its 2004 "Stop Bullying Now!" campaign. He specifically examines the "Choosing Sides" arc, noting that bullying occurs "in more than one instance", with Hellion serving as the "central bully". Morris commented that "Hellion got developed through a long-term traumatic origin to turn him into the antiseptic half-hero of the X-Men's newest generation, until editorial gave up on that generation and switched to a mix of Morrison/Quitely's kids and some new bland ones that don't work".
Ashley Fields, for Screen Rant in 2024, expressed disappointment that Julian appeared as the villain Krakoan in NYX (vol. 2) #1. She highlighted his turbulent history where he was left "lost and furious" following "M-Day, a Purifier attack that killed his best friend, and" the loss of "his hands in a violent assault on Utopia". Fields noted that "Hellion's anger was met with disgust and punishment", unlike other young mutants who received mentorship such as Quentin Quire, and he was "relegated to a literal background presence", left to cope with his trauma alone. This version is a member of Professor X's future X-Men.
- Hellion and his relationship with X-23 is referenced in the MC Chris song "Nrrrd Grrrl".