Scalphunter

Origin

John Greycrow is a cybernetically augmented mutant whom fought during World War II for the United States, but was executed for scalping eight of his fellow officers. As he was blindfolded and tied to a stake to be slaughtered he spat on Nick Fury as his last words and for it almost got beaten. However, he was lucky and instead of being victim to Fury's wrath he was shot by the firing squad who believed him to be killed and so buried him. Yet, unbeknownst to the US Army, John survived thanks to his healing factor and was found and recruited by Nathaniel Essex - Mr. Sinister - while he emerged from the grave.

Creation

Greycrow was created by Chris Claremont, John Romita Jr and Bret Blevins in 1988 and first appeared in shadow in Uncanny X-Men # 210. Greycrow's full appearance was in Uncanny X-Men # 211.

Major Story Arcs

Mutant Massacre

After being found by Sinister, Greycrow is caught off guard and asked how Sinister knew when he sees the man was waiting for him. Sinister tells him it his business to know, then reaches out his arm to Greycrow, pulling the man out of his grave. It is from that moment on that their pact comes into existence.

John becomes his shadow, accompanying him everywhere and helping him with all his jobs and experiments but is also the lesser evil of the two obviously as he sometimes objects to Sinister's dark thoughts or ideas, though discretely as he is still a dutiful servant of Essex, even through the decades.

Much later, now calling himself Greycrow, he was part of a group of of assassins called the Marauders, lead by Sinister.

Sinister first sends the Marauders to kill the entire population of the underground community of mutants called the Morlocks. Greycrow found and followed a young Morlock named Tommy and shot her from behind when they found the entrance to the alley. In the course of the massacre the team fought against the X-Men and the original X-Factor, as well as Thor and Power Pack, but was successful in killing the majority of the Morlocks. They team escaped relatively easy, but one member, Riptide, was killed in a fist of rage by the X-Man Colossus. At this time, it was revealed that Mr. Sinister had cloned the entire Marauders team. This way, members of the team who had died could be instantly replaced with an exact replica. This was done to the Marauder teammate Riptide who lost his life during the fight against the X-Men.

Inferno

The next time the Marauders fought the X-Men was when they attempted to assassinate former pawn of Sinister, and now X-Man teammate, Madelyne Pryor. They where unsuccessful this time. Sinister also send Greycrow and the Marauders to battle the X-Men during the time of the demonic invasion of New York City known as the "Inferno".Greycrow managed to live throughout his encounters with the X-Men but when the Marauders later fought the time-displaced Nate Grey, aka X-Man, he was killed. After his death, Greycrow was cloned by Sinister.

Greycrow cloned

The clone of Greycrow took in refugee at the Xavier Mansion after the fall out of M-day in witch most mutants lost their powers. Because 'this' Greycrow was a clone, and technically had no part in the murders on the Morlock mutants, he was taken in. He soon became part of a mutant group on the compound calling themselves the 198. He still retained his powers. When Apocalypse returned to life and asked the mutants who still had their powers to join him, Greycrow accepted. When Havok warned him, Fever Pitch, and Skids that they were in way over their heads, Greycrow replied that Apocalypse had explained it all to them and was on their side.

After he gotten away from Apocalypse, Greycrow returned to his old boss Mr. Sinister and his team the Marauders. There he was part of the events known as the "Messiah CompleX". Being a clone, Greycrow was loyal to Sinister and he helped him and his old Marauder teammates kill a lot of innocent people in the town of Cooperstown, Alaska. In this town the first new mutant baby was born since M-Day and Sinister didn't want to take any chances on getting the child, even if it meant killing everyone who got in their way.

After these events, Greycrow soon went of the radar. Ashamed of his actions he started to work at a road-restaurant somewhere in a desert. Fearful everyday that the X-Men would find, and kill him for what he had done after they had been so generous at giving him a second chance in life. The X-Man Nightcrawler found Greycrow after some time, and told he him he COULD have killed him, and he would still do it, if Greycrow would ever hurt someone else, ever again. He didn't do this now because he thought that, since he was a clone, he never really had an honest start in life. After giving him this hard message, Nightcrawler left. Leaving a baffled Greycrow behind.

Elektra

During the hunt for infamous aged assassin Cape Crow in Elektra (vol.3), Greycrow was eaten alive by the mother of monsters on Monster Island.

Magneto's Judgement

The recently redeemed marauder's fears of retribution for his crimes eventually struck true, as the Master of Magnetism soon relapsed into his more bitter & vengeful phase while seeking to protect the dwindling mutant populace in his own way. Greycrow being cared for by S.H.I.E.L.D Agent's Haines and Rodriguez after a run in with Magneto left him a quadriplegic amputee. His assailant going so far as to cauterize his limbs to prevent the regrowth of John's missing limbs. His beneficiaries inquired if Magneto were coming back for him or not but Scalphunter inclined otherwise. Especially not when he withheld his own private army of marauder clones that once belonged to Sinister at his beck & call. To which the avenging angel would make use of in his crusade against his perceived enemies right up until the Marvel Universe came to its penultimate end during Time Runs Out.

Later Escapades

Greycrow would seek out Scrambler after a bit of wetwork for an unknown client went sideways and the Marauders ended up incarcerated. He would seek out his old contemporary to try and force him back into the fold while on parole. Buy would be turned away by the former jailbird whom had fully intended on turning away from a life of crime.

Until he was tricked into making enemies of Gambit and Deadpool by a hidden manipulator, to which Mr. Il Sung would spring him and his former partners in crime from prison so they could all participate in a superperson's cookout in the backyard of a friend. But the two individuals he'd been hired out into assailing were now on the hunt for in order to suss out some odd happenings with their powers. A fight would break out between the villains and the duo while Kim tried to beat a hasty retreat.

Scaplhunter would later turn up again while on the run after the decimation of the X-Men and mutants were flitting on the brink of extinction once more. He and the rest of the Marauders were on the run from what's left of the uncanny mutants when the Morlocks were attacked again. Chamber would flambe the xeroxed ne'er-do-wells, only to find out they weren't behind the reenactment of the mutant massacre.

Sinister's Hellions

Having been cloned again and seeking redemption for his prior actions, John Greycrow accepted the general amnest offered by the newly formed mutant nation of Krakoa. Once there, however, without his fellow Marauders he felt adrift and fell into antisocial habits. On the anniversary of the Mutant Massacre a group of former Morlocks including Callisto attacked him in memory of the event, and he swiftly slaughtered them. Although this was not a crime due to the resurrection protocols of The Five, his violent and antisocial behavior led the council to assign him to Mr. Sinister's new Hellions, a black ops/group therapy team alongside Havok, Nanny, Empath, Orphan Maker, Wild Child, and team leader Psylocke.

Their first mission is to destroy an Essex clone farm in Omaha, Nebraska. Greycrow tends to keep Wild Child's violent impulses in check. But he simultaneously shoots and kills Empath with a headshot after learning his used his powers to manipulate Orphan Maker. Once they arrive and explore deeper into the underground lair, they discover the Goblin Queen, Madelyne Pryor has already made a nest of her own. Greycrow was forced to confront undead clones of his former Marauder teammates, slaughtering them in hopes of seeing them revived by the Five on Krakoa. Only when an incapacitated Greycrow is awakened and assisted by the team leader Kwannon is he able to escape. He delivers the killshot that takes out Madelyne Pryor.

Greycrow would quickly bond with his team, his team instincts making him one of the more cooperative members. Greycrow and the other Hellions would accompany a clone of Mr. Sinister to Otherworld to steal the tournament swords of the Swordbearers of Arakko, a mission that brought them into conflict with Tarn the Uncaring and ultimately ended with the team's death and resurrections by the Five.

The Hellions later recovered Nanny's ship after a high-stakes fight with an android Cameron Hodge and The Right. When the Right's androids developed self-awareness the dictates of Krakoa directed Greycrow to use a virus to destroy them, but Psylocke stopped him and did it herself, recognizing that John no longer wished to be a killer.

John found himself developing feelings for his team leader Psylocke. On a mission to rescue Sinister from Arcade and Mastermind the Hellions found themselves trapped in illusions designed to feed on their greatest desires. John found himself as a member of the army where he had clear moral imperatives to kill and was applauded for it. His bond with Psylocke and her telepathic abilities allowed them to escape Mastermind's illusions and Greycrow believed that they successfully rescued Mr. Sinister, though in reality that memory was fabricated and part of a larger scheme by sinister and Mastermind.

Although John, like the other "problem child" members of the Hellions wasn't invited to the Hellfire Gala, he decided to crash the party. He tried to support Wild Child as his teammate tried to reconnect with his ex Aurora but was forced to intervene when Wild Child attacked Aurora's new flame Daken. After the gala ended the team used Psylocke's telepathic link to enjoy Emma Frost's psychic fireworks.

Greycrow and the other Hellions once again clashed with Tarn the Uncaring when he and his Locus Vile tracked down Mr. Sinister for stealing Arakkan mutant DNA. During the battle, John discovered the psychic manipulations of Mastermind, and that Psylocke had been a willing party. Enraged, he deliberately fed Amino Fetus, almost ending the world before Tarn teleported the group into space to dispose of Amino Fetus. The group soon discovered that Sinister had cloned himself a chimeric body with Tarn's abilities, and was blackmailing Psylocke via her child's psychic remains. John agreed to allow Sinister to use it in order to ensure the safety of Psylocke's daughter, but Empath, under orders from Emma Frost, manipulated Havok into destroying the clone, killing Psylocke's daughter in the process.

Emotionally devastated, the team broke up, but reunited to save Orphan-Maker from the Right. When Orphan-Maker killed several human he was sentenced to the Pit, and the Hellions disbanded once and for all. Greycrow was changed for the better by his experiences, deciding not to take revenge on Empath and remaining with Psylocke, who he said made him want to be a better man.

Powers & Abilities

Greycrow has technomorphic abilities which means he can restructure any technological device. He usually wears a form of armor with numerous weapon parts that he can assemble weapons from. He is very well-trained in fire arms of any sort.

He also has a healing factor that heals wounds and represses aging. He has survived several executions and burials. He is at least 80 years old, probably older.

Greycrow is one of the few mutants that retains his powers after M-Day. It was later revealed that many, if not much of Scalphunter's biomass had been replaced with cybernetic modular components. Quite possibly recurred from his mauling by Magneto.

John now boasts more mechanical units added to his retention cache which makes up most 85% of his body. Enabling him to fashion bigger ans stronger firearms.