ClanDestine

Did You Know?

• The 2022 Disney+ series Ms. Marvel features a group called the Clandestines, depicted as Djinn exiled from the Noor dimension, with no resemblance to the Destine family.
• The Clandestines' origin in Ms. Marvel is tied to the background of protagonist Kamala Khan and her great-grandmother Aisha during the Partition.

Publication history

Alan Davis created the ClanDestine because he enjoyed the superhero genre and the group book dynamic, and wanted to develop new characters free from complex continuity, though he set them in the Marvel Universe to allow cameos by characters like the Silver Surfer and MODOK. He made the group a family because familial bonds are not chosen, and he was interested in superhumans who used their powers to enhance their lives without feeling heroic obligations or megalomaniacal greed. The core members were Rory, Pandora, Samantha, Walter, Kay, and Dominic, though Davis intended the family to be an extended one so he could add members as needed. After the original series ended, Davis wrote and drew the 1996 miniseries X-Men and the ClanDestine, which retconned the last four issues of the ongoing series as a dream. He returned to the characters in a 2008 five-issue limited series, and in 2012 he wrote and drew three linked annuals: Fantastic Four Annual #33, Daredevil Annual #1, and Wolverine Annual #1, each focusing on a different Destine family member interacting with other Marvel heroes.

Fictional history

Adam of Ravenscroft was born in 1168 in the village of Ravenscroft, England. At sixteen, he was accidentally impaled on a scythe but recovered after dreaming of a strange inhuman woman, and was renamed Adam of Destine. In 1189 he joined the Third Crusade, never being injured in battle, believing the angel from his dream protected him. By 1191 he was a veteran but was captured by the warlord Al Kadhdhaab, who claimed he needed Adam's help to defeat the wizard Sujanaa Min Raghbah. Sujanaa had captured a large gem that fulfilled wishes, and a prophecy said Adam would kill him. Adam was captured by Sujanaa, who ranted that the gem loved Adam. Adam distracted the wizard by saying he had wasted his life protecting his power, and during the wizard's doubt, Adam killed him. Adam then felt something alive in the gem and tried to destroy it, but Kadhdhaab shot him with a crossbow. Adam destroyed the gem with his last strength, releasing Elalyth, a Djinn, who destroyed Kadhdhaab and restored Adam, making him immortal and invulnerable, and they became lovers.

Members

Alan Davis stated there are an unknown number of family members who usually keep to themselves. The following are listed in approximate order of age based on the family tree from the 2008 miniseries. Rik Destine's birth order is unknown but he is placed before Rory and Pandora, who are the youngest. In 1374, while escorting his son Albert to the Shalu Monastery in Tibet, Adam and his son Thaddeus were attacked by the Geong Si, zombies controlled by the Inhuman Tral. Thaddeus was knocked off a cliff, and Albert, in grief, discovered his healing ability could be used as a weapon, killing all attackers. Other Inhumans explained Tral was a criminal. Adam traveled to Russia in 1612 to help establish the Romanov dynasty. In 1615, while riding through the Sayan Mountains, he encountered insectoid aliens building a teleportational portal to bring an army to Earth. When their weapons could not harm him, they believed all humans were invulnerable and left. Adam views his long existence as a curse, with numbed senses. Elalyth, a green-skinned Djinn, gave Adam immortality. After Adam killed Vincent, she left him and returned to the mystical realm of Yden. She did not appear until ClanDestine (Vol. 2) #5, where she reunited with Adam.