real name: paige elisabeth guthrieAfter her older brother Sam's mutant powers manifested and he joined the New Mutants, Paige tried many things to discover whether she was also a mutant, but became frustrated after many failures. Venting her anger, Paige finally found that her power was to shed her skin. She kept her nature secret until the day Sam and his X-Force teammate Boomer visited the farm. They were abducted by the Fenris twins as part of the "Younghunt," a contest involving the capture of young mutants. X-Force teamed up with the New Warriors, whose member Firestar had also been captured, and together they opposed the organizer of the contest, the Gamesmaster. Paige secretly followed them and confronted the Gamesmaster, defeating him in a game of wits.
Soon after, Paige was kidnapped by the techno-organic alien Phalanx, who sought to learn how to assimilate mutants into their collective. Paige and her fellow abductees were rescued by an ad-hoc X-Men team, and subsequently became founding members of Generation X, a team of mutants enrolled at the new Massachusetts branch of Xavier's School. During her time there, Paige studied to become a better X-Man than Sam. She also romanced her teammate Chamber. After the School was closed, Paige was recruited by her former headmaster Banshee into his paramilitary X-Corps. After that group was dismantled, Paige went to study at the reestablished Xavier Institute. Her interest in environmental issues led to her discovering corruption within Worthington Enterprises, the company owned by the X-Man Archangel. Investigating, she and Archangel encountered the Dominant Species, and she was almost killed. Archangel saved her with his healing ability, after which they became romantically involved.
Having finally graduated to the ranks of the X-Men, Paige later aided Archangel in establishing the global mutant outreach program "Mutantes Sans Frontières." Setting up office in Zanzibar, they became involved in an attempt by the Hellfire Club to destabilize the country by employing the mercenary Weaponeers. Alongside the country's President, who was secretly the superhero Askari, as well as reinforcements from Genosha, the heroes managed to repel the invaders.
real name: parker robbinsAs a young boy, Parker Robbins witnessed a battle between Daredevil and Electro. Fascinated by the event, Robbins grew up to become a petty thief, often working with his cousin, John King. After his father died, Robbins took care of his mentally ill mother, ultimately placing her in the Bridgeside Psychiatric Care Center. Robbins needed money to support not only his mother, but his pregnant girlfriend Sara as well. When King told him about a burglary job he was going to perform at a warehouse, Robbins joined in. However, when they arrived, they found the warehouse empty, except for some mystical markings and candles surrounding them. They were attacked by a demonic creature called the Nisanti, but Robbins shot it in the head. Believing the cloak and boots the creature wore to be expensive, Robbins absconded with them, and left the believed-dead Nisanti behind. Later that night, Robbins encountered a group of thugs and tried to outrun them. To his astonishment, the Nisanti’s boots caused him to run onto thin air, and he escaped his assailants.
He went to his cousin’s apartment shortly thereafter and learned he could also become invisible while wearing the cloak. He initially used this new ability to pursue more petty thefts, but King convinced him to steal a black-market diamond shipment, unaware it belonged to crimelord Dennis Golembuski, a.k.a. the Golem. Robbins easily stole the jewels despite Golembuski’s agents — Constrictor, Shocker, and Jack O'Lantern — but was surprised by two police officers and accidentally shot and fatally wounded one. Identified as the Hood, Robbins found himself wanted by both Golumbuski and the FBI. He also found his supernatural garments at times caused him to lose control over his new powers.
As the Hood, Robbins confronted the Golem, and offered him a deal in return for the diamonds. Golumbuski agreed, planning to double-cross the Hood. He sent his agents, including Madam Rapier, to meet with the Hood, but Robbins had brought along a cloak resembling his own. After defeating Rapier, he forced her to put on the second cloak, and the police — believing her to be the Hood — shot her dead. Robbins confronted the Golem’s remaining henchmen and gave them the diamonds before demanding that Golumbuski leave him alone. Despite being reported as dead, the Hood made various enemies, including White Fang (the widow of the slain policeman) and the Nisanti, which had reawakened some time after Robbins’ encounter with it. Shaken by his experiences, Robbins visited his institutionalized mother and promised her that he would use his new abilities to help others.
