Xi'an (comics)

Xi'an
Cover to X-Men 2099 # 22 featuring Xi'an joining the Theatre of Pain Art by Ron Lim
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	X-Men 2099 #1 (October, 1993)
Created by	John Francis Moore Ron Lim
In-story information
Alter ego	Xi'an Chi Xan
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	X-Men 2099 Lawless Theatre of Pain
Notable aliases	Desert Ghost, Controller X
Abilities	Matter disintegration Biological healing Ability to generate a self-healing cocoon

Xi'an (Xi'an Chi Xan) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created for their Marvel 2099 imprint. In the title X-Men 2099, he was the founder, leader, and enemy of the team of X-Men who was always haunted by his past.

Xi'an Chi Xan was born into a well-respected family. However, when his mutant power to break down the molecular structure of whatever he touches with his left hand manifested, his parents turned him over to a genetics lab to save their own reputation. Before reaching the lab, Xi'an destroyed his restraints and escaped. He spent much of the rest of his youth on the streets, in and out of gangs before joining The Lawless, gaining the nickname "The Desert Ghost". After being chased by bounty hunters in Saigon, Xi'an left the Lawless and returned to the US, with a more refined demeanor and a new purpose, to create his own version of the X-Men to help fight for genetic equality.

The team almost immediately runs into trouble when Xi'an is accused of murdering casino mogul Noah Synge. The team hurries to clear his name, but in the course of things Xi'an is shot. Instead of dying his body encases itself in a cocoon. He soon emerges from this cocoon fully healed. This trauma also triggers a secondary mutation, giving Xi'an the power to heal with his right hand.

Xi'an then leads the team to find Mama Hurricane, who was a runner for the mutant underground railroad during The Great Purge of mutants, some decades prior. They find her and gain knowledge on The Driver, her next contact within the railroad, but are then sidetracked to El Paso, where Krystalin has uncovered evidence of an "Archangel"-like mutant. They discover a hidden base where Master Zhao, the leader of the last known X-Men cell, has kidnapped Krys and Xi'an's former Lawless teammate Victor Ten Eagles. Over the years, Zhao has made himself mentally unstable with psych-drugs and plans to brainwash Xi'an's team into his own X-Men. However, in his initial assault on Xi'an's mind it is revealed that Xi'an's prior Lawless personality has been laying dormant, as a sort of alternate personality. In order to defeat Zhao, Xi'an returns to his more amoral personality, knocking the former mutant leader into a coma with a psychic backlash.