Maggott

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Maggott, who went by the name Japheth, was a Marvel Comics superhero who was briefly a member of the X-Men. Created by writer Scott Lobdell and Joe Madureira, he first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #345 (June 1997).

A flamboyant, South African mutant, who spoke in exaggerated Afrikaans slang, Maggott was advertised as one of the strangest X-Men. His digestive system took the form of two mechanical slugs which could eat through practically any substance. After feeding, the slugs reentered Maggott's abdomen and passed nourishment into him, making him super strong.

Character history

Cover to X-Men (volume 2) #76. Art by Mat Broome

Created by Scott Lobdell and Joe Madureira, Maggott first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #345 (June 1997), as a mysterious mutant, searching out the X-Men’s adversary Magneto for an unknown reason. His search led to Antarctica where Magneto was holding the X-Men captive. Maggott then joined up with the team and returned with them to their Westchester, New York headquarters.

At first, he kept his past to himself, but Maggott eventually revealed his origin to Wolverine in X-Men #76 (June 1998). Maggott had been born a sickly child in Apartheid-era South Africa and was named Japeth. He was always very ill and he could not digest solid food. Feeling himself to be a burden on his family, he ran away from home. Having left home, hoping to die, he was found by Magneto who released the slugs from his body and revealed to Japeth his mutant power. This turned his skin blue. When the slugs re-enter his body, it causes Maggott severe pain; as a result, he later sought Magneto again for help in easing the pain. Shortly afterwards, the X-Man Beast suggested Maggott transfer to the junior team Generation X, but his tenure there lasted only one issue and afterwards he fell out of sight.

Maggott reappeared as an inmate at “Neverland,” a concentration camp run by the covert government program Weapon X. He was exterminated there in Weapon X #5. One of his slugs, which he gave away to two children at the camp after foreseeing his death at the camp, was last seen in a container in Mr. Sinister's laboratory. He has named the slugs Eany and Meany.

Powers

• Digestive system replaced by a hollow cavity that houses a pair of semi-sentient slugs called Eany and Meany who bore their way out of his chest and then use powerful enzymes to chew and digest any solid object in their path, transmitting food energy back to their host to supercharge his physical strength and stamina while turning his skin blue, but the slugs must reenter through his chest and release their storage internally to feed his body properly.
• Unexplained psychometric power enables him to draw psychic imprints from his environment, replaying in his mind's-eye events which once took place in his general vicinity.

See also

• African characters in comics

External link

• [UncannyXmen.net Spotlight on Maggott]

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