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X-Men: First Class Affinity – Riptide

Riptide is a Marvel villain and member of the Marauders.  Any X-Men fan surprised you’ve never heard of him?  He’s been in sixty five issues and had only one very memorable moment: His gruesome death at the hands of the X-Man Colossus.  Riptide first appeared in 1986 in The Uncanny X-Men #210 in the form of a shadowy figure and had his first full appearance in the next issue.  He was created by Chris Claremont, John Romita Jr. and Bret Blevins.  In the comics Riptide is able to spin at high velocity.  During this spinning Riptide’s skin produces shuriken which he uses to hurt his enemies.   Krak! Goes the Riptide Riptide was a member of the Marauders, a group of villains formed by Mister Sinister, but recruited by the X-Man Gambit. The Marauders were responsible for whipping out the Morlocks, the freakish group of sewer dwelling mutants. During this battle Riptide upset Colossus by badly injuring Nightcrawler and was killed by Colossus who snapped his neck. This battle surprisingly occurred during Riptide’s very first full appearance!  But that was not the last from Riptide. The Uncanny X-Men #211, Riptide's death Mr. Sinister had samples of all members of the Maurader’s DNA and cloned Riptide, who was later killed again during the invasion of New York that occurred during the Inferno story arc.  After his return Riptide killed two characters (Quiet Bill and Messiah Complex, two characters about as well known as… well, Riptide himself) during the Post M-Day story arc, before he was knocked unconscious by Professor Xavier. Riptide was in the X-Men: First Class movie and was played by Álex González.  In the movie his powers have changed.  Instead of spinning around in circles like the mutant spawn of the Tasmanian Devil, Riptide can create whirlwinds in his hands. Also, unlike the comics, Riptide is a henchman of Sebastian Shaw’s and  he joins Magneto’s Brotherhood.  It’s surprising how much the character has changed, but his origin would not work since both Gambit and Mr. Sinister are not in the X-Men: First Class film.  What’s more understandable is the decision to not give Riptide the same powers which seem much more appropriate on Saturday morning cartoons and not a live action movie.   Álex González as Riptide in X-Men: First Class (2011)

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An all-around nerdette, I’m a comic book connoisseur, horror aficionado, video game addict, anime enthusiast and an aspiring novelist/comic book writer. I am the head of the comic book department and the editor-in-chief of Entertainment Fuse. I also write and edit articles for Comic Frontline. I am also an intern at Action Lab Entertainment, a comic book publisher at which I edit comic book scripts, help work on images in solicitations and help with other comic book related project. My own personal website is comicmaven.com.

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