Pride is a <!--Do not add "fictional" as it is tautological; supervillains (and characters in general) are by definition implied to be fictionalized to some extent.-->supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters are depicted as a criminal organization that controlled the Los Angeles area of the Marvel Universe. They are the parents and the initial and most prominent foes the Runaways have faced and are the team's greatest enemy to date. The Pride consists of six married couples who are secretly supervillains. They possess a wide range of abilities, skills, and resources. Each member of The Pride has their own unique powers or expertise, often related to their criminal or mystical backgrounds. The mafia-controlling Wilders, the time-traveling Yorkeses, the telepathic mutant Hayeses, the alien invader Deans, the mad scientist Steins, and the dark wizard Minorus. The Pride first appeared in Runaways #1, published by Marvel Comics in 2003, and was created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona.

The Pride also appeared in Hulu's television series Runaways set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where most of them are presented as caring parents who act out of a desire to protect their children from a greater threat.

Origin

Original Pride

Although the Pride was the center of focus throughout the first volume of the series, their actual origin was only covered in the 13th issue. The six couples were called together in 1985 by the Gibborim, three mythical giants who had ruled the world when it had "originally been one, serene utopia". Every year, The Pride gathered at the Wilder residence, using the excuse of an "annual charity fundraiser", while in reality, they would perform the "Rite of Blood", the ritual sacrifice of an innocent young female victim;

After Janet Stein became pregnant during their third year as a group, the Pride agreed to end its struggle against one another. Instead of half the couples surviving, they would instead have one child, with those children receiving the six places in the coming paradise, allowing the Pride's legacy to go on. Despite their attempts to eliminate Stark by hiring the Serpent Society to kill him, Tony was able to assemble a new company called Imperio Techworks, convincing the locals to invest (with the new Iron Man acquiring Japanese investors after defeating a monster), which prompts Wilder to send Tony a message about his presence in the city. Unfortunately for Wilder, his actions resulted in Stark learning about the existence of the Pride; prior to this, all Stark knew was that the Serpent Society had been sent after him by a bald man, leading to the logical assumption that their attacks against him were organized by Stane. Although he was able to defeat and imprison the Pride with the aid of the Illuminati when they tried to confront him directly, Stark knew that he couldn't hold his "territory" once the Pride were out of prison as they were too well-connected. With that in mind, Tony handed Imperio Techworks over to one of his employees and departed after leaving Geoffrey Wilder a message; if the Pride left Imperio alone, Tony would not bring in virtually every superhuman contact he possessed to attack them.

thumb|right|200px|The Hayeses and the Deans conspire to kill off the rest of the Pride. Frank Dean, Gene, Alice Hayes, and Leslie Dean from left to right. (Art by Adrian Alphona)

Seventeen years after the Steins announced their pregnancy, the Pride's children inadvertently see the Rite of Blood and run away.

During a ceremony at the Rite of Thunder, In reality, he also discovered the Deans' and Hayeses' betrayal.

Alex manipulated the Runaways as a way of taking the six tickets in paradise for himself, his parents, Nico and her parents.

"New Pride"

At the end of issue #6 in the second series, a figure who had impersonated Chamber from the X-Men, is implied to be a resurrected Alex Wilder, and has formed a new Pride using some of the original team's tools, including the Minorus' Chameleon Glamour, a small talisman to disguise the user into any form. They had also obtained the Steins' copy of the Abstract.

Members

Original members

Despite Pride's allegiance to one another, rifts and alliances had been common amongst the group. The most notable of the alliances was the Hayeses and the Deans, who had plotted to betray the other remaining Pride members because they were human. All members of the Pride are given nicknames by the Gibborim.

The Wilder family

Geoffrey and Catherine Wilder ("the Thieves") are Alex Wilder's parents. They are crime bosses who posed as businesspeople. They handled illegal drug trade, gambling and robbery in Los Angeles. For this, these two established strong and powerful connections throughout Los Angeles, a reason the Pride is able to frame their kids for kidnap and murder. Geoffrey had led the entire Pride. Geoffrey originally appeared as a stern and demeaning man, who had forbidden his son from playing online roleplaying games. His cool persona is often distinguished, meaning other characters can detect his attitude, as evidenced when Nico is able to identify a 1985 version of Geoffrey. When the Gibborim had called them to the first meeting, Geoffrey and Catherine had been on the run from the cops, after a fresh robbery, where it was revealed that Geoffrey and Catherine had eloped, defying Catherine's mother's wishes.

Geoffrey Wilder returns, after a group unintentionally brings a 1985 version of him back from his time. He was later defeated and returned to his time with his memory wiped by Nico.

The Yorkes family

Dale and Stacey Yorkes ("the Travelers") are Gertrude Yorkes's parents. They are time travellers who posed as antique dealers. The two, using a special 4-D portal, had traveled all over time, and had commissioned a genetically engineered dinosaur, mentally linking it with their daughter. The two have a distinct way of speech (unlike the rest of the Pride, they have older-fashioned speech), and often imply they know what will go on in the future. They dress in pilot styles resembling that of Amelia Earhart, complete with the goggles, scarves, and gloves. It was later revealed their outfits were actually technical advances; their gloves cause fire and restraining shields. The Yorkes appear as self-righteous, obnoxious people, particularly Stacey.

When the runaways are time-displaced to 1907, it was revealed the runaways had landed in a time the Yorkes were visiting, where the Yorkes are the heads of a super powered street gang known as the Sinners.

The Dean family

Frank and Leslie Dean ("the Colonists") are Karolina Dean's parents. They are alien invaders from Majesdane (the homeworld of their race) who posed as Hollywood actors. The Deans are intergalactic arms traders to the Skrulls. In their alien form, they appear humanoid with bright, wispy skin, and can manipulate and control solar energy for a variety of purposes. The Deans also were the only ones that didn't want a child. However, Leslie eventually believed that a child would put them on People magazine's cover.

When on the run, Karolina meets Xavin, an alien, and more about the Deans is revealed: the Deans had actually been exiled from their planet for criminal activities; the two immigrated to Earth where they took their last name from James Dean. When Prince De'zean of the Skrulls had arrived at Earth to conquer it, Frank and Leslie had stopped him. In exchange, the two gave the Skrulls the coordinates of a much more valuable planet: Majesdane, the Deans' birth planet, which was hidden beneath a white dwarf star. To assure the Skrulls the coordinates were real, the Deans offered the prince their daughter's hand in marriage; therefore, Karolina was engaged to the son of the prince, Xavin. It was later revealed by vaDanti, a Majesdanian soldier, that it was specifically Frank Dean who told the Skrulls where Majesdane was hidden.

When Daken invades Los Angeles with the hope of usurping the void left by the Pride, he begins taking drugs that are mixed with Majesdanian blood, referred to as "Heat Pills" but unaware that the drugs are costing him his healing factor.

The Stein family

Victor and Janet Stein ("the Wise Men") are Chase Stein's parents. They are world-renowned brilliant inventors who are known for making fortunes for what people believe are necessities. They also made "weaponized" gloves called Fistigons, multi-spectral goggles and the transport ship "the Leapfrog". The Steins are also responsible for the money the Pride obtains, as Victor revealed he and Janet had counterfeited the new fifty dollar bill within two minutes. The Steins have also created watches that zap electricity, watches that scan police radars and senses, creating the container that carries the soul they sacrifice, and they dress in scientific outfits for their villainous costumes. as he first appears punching Chase across the face for getting C's, with Janet scolding slightly.

When Molly is sent to stay with her grandmother after the team disbands, she learns that this grandmother was her direct maternal grandmother, who had taken in Molly's father when he ran away, and carried out various genetic research to give Molly's parents their powers, accounting for how Molly's parents could share the same mutant power. Molly's grandmother eventually reveals her true agenda to try and genetically recreate Molly's dead parents, but Molly rejects this idea, choosing instead to return to the Runaways as the team come back together.

The Minoru family

Robert and Tina Minoru ("the Magicians") are Nico Minoru's parents. The two are dark wizards who posed as an average, church-going, middle-class couple. the Deans and Hayes hate them because they're humans; When the Gibborim had first abducted the Pride for the first meeting, the Minorus were on their wedding day.

Alex Wilder's New Pride

  • Alex Wilder &ndash; Leader
  • Black Mariah
  • Cottonmouth
  • Dontrell "Cockroach" Hamilton
  • Scimitar
  • Gamecock

In other media

Film

Tina Minoru makes a minor appearance in Doctor Strange, portrayed by Linda Louise Duan. This version is a member of the Ancient One's sect.

Television

The Pride appears in Runaways (2017), with Catherine Wilder portrayed by Angel Parker, Geoffrey Wilder portrayed by Ryan Sands, Leslie Dean portrayed by Annie Wersching, Frank Dean portrayed by Kip Pardue, Janet Stein portrayed by Ever Carradine, Victor Stein portrayed by James Marsters, Stacey Yorkes portrayed by Brigid Brannagh, Dale Yorkes portrayed by Kevin Weisman, Tina Minoru portrayed by Brittany Ishibashi, Robert Minoru portrayed by James Yaegashi, Gene Hernandez portrayed by Vladimir Caamaño and Alice Hernandez portrayed by Carmen Serano. This version of the Pride formed out of necessity as opposed to personal reasons as their benefactor Jonah (played by Julian McMahon) has them blackmailed into helping him, with the sacrifices channeling the life energy of the victims to Jonah rather than the victims being explicitly killed and their souls trapped. Their backgrounds are more grounded in that they do not possess any superpowers with many of their known activities being possible through means of science and are shown to be caring to their kids.

Video games

The Pride appears in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2. They appear in the "Runaways" DLC.

References

  • Pride at Marvel.com
  • Pride at Marvel Wiki
  • Pride at Comic Vine
  • Runaways the comic The Pride Information Page