Benedict Kine (Hellfire Club) (original) (raw)

BENEDICT KINE

Real Name: Benedict Kine

Identity/Class: Human mutant

Occupation: Unrevealed

Group Membership: Hellfire Club

Affiliations: Benazir Kaur, Reeva Payge, White Knights;
formerly Shinobi Shaw, Tessa

Enemies: Ebon Knights, Shinobi Shaw, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Tessa, X-Men

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: White King

Base of Operations: Hellfire Club's Manhattan base

First Appearance: X-Men II Annual#3 (1994)

Powers/Abilities: Benedict Kine can manipulate the nervous system of others, causing paroxysms of delight or excruciating agony.

History:
(X-Men II Annual#3) - Shinobi Shaw introduced Storm -- drugged into an affiliation with Shaw -- to Benedict Kine, Benazir Kaur, and Reeva Payge. When Storm tried to resist Shaw's plans, Kine wracked her body with pain, causing her to collapse. Professor X later sent his psychic strength to help Ororo, and she broke free again. Kine caused her agony again, but she sent a gust of wind that smashed him into a wall. With the arriving Bishop & Gmbit's aid, Storm threw off Shaw's control completely, defeated Shaw and his allies, and departed.

(Spider-Man Team-Up I#1) - Kine criticized Shinobi's attracting too much attention to the Hellfire Club, and he further caused painful spasms in the Hellfire Club guards Shinobi placed between them. Kine produced an advertisement for the Daily Bugle's proposed expose of the Hellfire Club and insisted Jameson be dealt with to prevent the article from being published. Shinobi disagreed with Kine and used his own intangibility power to avoid Kine's attacks, but then Kine invoked the Rite of Challenge to Shinobi's leadership of the Hellfire Club. Shinobi accepted the challenge, and Tessa then telepathically summoned the Knights: Kine was given a pair of White Knights to collect Jameson, while Shinobi would oppose them with the two Ebon Knights. Jameson's life or death would determine the outcome of the duel and the next leader of the Hellfire Club.

The White Knights appeared in the Daily Bugle building, announcing they had come for Jameson. Spider-Man leapt to Jameson's defense, and the Ebon Knights arrived soon thereafter. As Spider-Man battled both pairs of Knights, Tessa -- who saw the contest as a pointless swaggering match -- psychically herded the X-Men (Archangel, Beast, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Psylocke) into getting involved. Kine's White Knights eventually delivered Jameson, but Shinobi refused to concede defeat, and the Ebon Knights teleported Jameson away. The X-Men and Spider-Man arrived (again following Tessa's psychic prodding), battled the Knights, and rescued Jameson. Shinobi taunted Kine for his premature victory dance, and Kine futilely tried to deliver a neural blast to the intangible Shinobi. Kine compared Shinobi's power to his leadership philosophy, but he then was knocked out by a web-ball hurled by Spider-Man.

Shinobi gratefully pacified the remaining Ebon Knight, and Spidey and the X-Men polished off the White Knights. Tessa's involvement was exposed by Jean Grey, and the heroes departed.

Comments: Created by Ian Edginton, Gene Ha, Rubinstein, Lowe, Green, Wiacek, Sellers, Pepoy, & Moy.

Kine was revealed as a former White King in Hellfire Club's entry in OHOTMU A-Z Hardcover#5.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
No KNOWN connections to:

The Ebon & White Knights have no known connection to:

EbonKnights

The opposite number of the White Knights, they are telepathically summoned to perform the Rite of Challenge to the leadership of the Hellfire Club. The Ebon Knights serve the the challenged (or possibly the challenged gets to pick) and the White Knights serve the other side. The pairs of Knights are sent on conflicting missions, with the victorious side determining the future leadership of the Hellfire Club.

Serving the challenged Shinobi Shaw, the Ebon Knights were to prevent Benedict Kine's White Knights from collecting Jonah Jameson. The contest received interference from both Spider-Man and the X-Men, and the White Knights successfully retrieved Jameson, but the Ebon Knights then teleported Jameson away from them. After Spider-Man took Kine out of the fight, Shinobi commanded the remaining Ebon Knight to fight only against the White Knights and to spare Spider-Man and the X-Men.

They were described as "cybernetic. Not real people. Just copies," presumably indicating they were artificial constructs, as the X-Men shed no tears upon the destruction of one of them. There were two of them to start with, but after two were seemingly slain/destroyed, there was another one still active. They can apparently either be restored or replaced as needed.

The Ebon Knights were ninja-esque, using martial arts-style combat techniques and teleportation, but they also fired green energy blasts, and they did speak upon occasion. They apparently were susceptible to having their energies drained by the White Knights, and a healthy dose of Archangel's neuro-toxin feathers put one down for the count, too.

--Spider-Man Team-Up I#1

White Knights

The opposite number of the Ebon Knights, they are telepathically summoned to perform the Rite of Challenge to the leadership of the Hellfire Club. The Ebon Knights serve the the challenged (or possibly the challenged gets to pick) and the White Knights serve the other side. The pairs of Knights are sent on conflicting missions, with the victorious side determining the future leadership of the Hellfire Club.

Serving the challenger, Benedict Kine, the White Knights were sent to collecting Jonah Jameson, while Shinobi Shaw's Ebon Knights were to prevent this. The contest received interference from both Spider-Man and the X-Men, and -- following some back and forth -- the White Knights successfully retrieved Jameson, but the Ebon Knights then teleported Jameson away from them. After Spider-Man took Kine out of the fight, Shinobi commanded the remaining Ebon Knight to fight only against the White Knights and to spare Spider-Man and the X-Men. Spider-Man determined that the Knights' teleportational pattern matched the movement of a knight on the chess board, and he and Cyclops took them out as they rematerialized.

They were described as "cybernetic. Not real people. Just copies," presumably indicating they were artificial constructs.

The White Knights can fly, teleport, project energy blasts from their staffs, and drain the Ebony Knights' energies.

--Spider-Man Team-Up I#1

images: (without ads)
X-Men II Annual#3, p21, panel 3
Spider-Man Team-Up I#1, p9, panel 2 (White Knights)
p13, panel 1 (Ebon Knights)
p24, panel 1 (face close-up)

Appearances:
X-Men II Annual#3 (1994) - by Ian Edginton (writer), Gene Ha (penciler), Rubinstein, Lowe, Green, Wiacek, Sellers, Pepoy, & Moy (inkers), Lisa Patrick (editor)
Spider-Man Team-Up I#1 (December, 1995) - by Mark Waid & Tom Peyer (story), Ken Lashley (pencils), Vince Russell & Al Milgrom (inks), Tom Brevoort (edits)

Last updated: 09/17/06

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