Robert Edward Kelly is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, often in association with the X-Men. He is a prominent United States Senator who began his career on an anti-mutant platform and tended to be an antagonist to the X-Men team, but later began to change his views on mutants as a whole.
Publication history
The character was created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne and makes his first appearance in The Uncanny X-Men #135 (July 1980). Claremont named the character after his Bard College professor, poet Robert Kelly.
Fictional character biography
Senator Robert Kelly is first seen at a social gathering hosted by the Hellfire Club, where an illusion projected by the mutant villain Mastermind causes Kelly to believe that X-Men member Cyclops is firing randomly into a crowd. Kelly is the primary backer of the Mutant Control Act and Project Wideawake, a government program aimed at creating updated Sentinel robots that will track down, detain and, if necessary, kill violent mutants.
Kelly played a central role in the Days of Future Past storyline. In a possible future, his assassination by Mystique and the Brotherhood of Mutants leads to a dystopian future where mutants and other heroes are hunted down by the Sentinels and nearly totally eliminated, with the X-Men working to prevent it.
Kelly is later married to Sharon, a former maid who worked in the Hellfire Club. Sharon is killed by Master Mold during the latter's battle with Rogue, which further incites Kelly's stance against mutants.
Kelly remains an active anti-mutant activist, but slowly becomes more tolerant towards mutants, promising the X-Men he would work for mutant rights. Kelly's changed views are reinforced when the mutant Pyro saves him during an attack from Post. Not long afterward, Kelly is assassinated at a college rally by anti-mutant activist Alan Lewis, who felt that Kelly betrayed his cause. Cable's failure to protect Kelly, coupled with the death of Moira MacTaggert, causes him to leave the X-Men.
Powers and abilities
Robert Kelly has charisma where he was persuasive when speaking out in public.
As a former soldier, Kelly is an expert at armed and unarmed combat.
Other versions
Age of Apocalypse
An alternate universe version of Robert Kelly appears in Age of Apocalypse. This version is an activist for mutant-human peace who is eventually elected President of the United States.
Secret Wars
An alternate universe version of Robert Kelly appears in "Secret Wars". This version is the Baron of the Battleworld domain of Westchester and a member of the Horsemen of Apocalypse.
X-Men: Noir
An alternate universe version of Robert Kelly appears in X-Men Noir reality. This version is a Republican senator from New York who defends the extraterritorial prison Genosha Bay, intending for the prison to launch a new generation of soldiers and government operatives.
In other media
Television
- Robert Kelly, renamed Robert Jefferson Kelly, appears in X-Men: The Animated Series, voiced by Len Carlson. He initially runs for President of the United States on an anti-mutant campaign during the first season until he gradually changes his mind following failed assassination attempts by Mystique disguised as Gambit and kidnapped by Master Mold before being rescued by the X-Men, whom he befriends. Upon winning the election and taking office, Kelly publicly supports mutants and pardons Beast as his first presidential act. Kelly makes minor appearances in subsequent seasons as an ally of the X-Men.
- Robert Kelly appears in X-Men '97, voiced by Ron Rubin.
- A character based on Robert Kelly named Edward Kelly appears in X-Men: Evolution, voiced by Dale Wilson.