Sebastian Shaw

[Sebastian Shaw]

Name: Shaw, Sebastian Hiram

Aliases: The Black King

Age: 47

Face Claim: Kevin Bacon

Affiliation: Hellfire Club

Powers:

• Energy Absorption and manipulation: Shaw is a mutant capable of absorbing energy and then releasing it. He was shown capable of absorbing radiation from a reactor, Havok's energy rings, bullets, grenades, rocket launchers. Once he has the energy he displays enhanced durablitity and strength, and is able to release the energy in powerful and destructive ways, an example is when he took down an entire room of people by releasing powerful explosive energy he had gained by being fired on by bullets and a rocket. He also says that by absorbing energy he can stay young.

History: Sebastian was born to a poor family in Pittsburgh with a long history of working in the local steel mills. His mutant abilities first manifested shortly after he had been accepted to engineering school, when his father had been beaten to death by some rednecks in a bar. His father had some racist tendencies, and when he drank, he tended to go all-out. He said some things that got him cornered and beaten in the parking lot, and his son Sebastian witnessed the end of the beating when he came to be the designated driver for his dad. Horrified, he tried to avenge his father - then his mutant gene activated. The men who killed his father were soon laying in the dirty parking lot beside the man they killed. Sebastian had avenged his father, feeling nothing but hate and anger towards his victims.

Sebastian decided that he would not follow the path that drove his father to an early grave, and so he devoted himself to his engineering studies and created Shaw Industries, becoming a millionaire by age 30 and a billionaire by age 40. Shaw Industries enjoys many ties to the U.S. government, producing weapons for its military agencies.

Shaw became engaged to a woman named Lourdes Chantel, also a mutant, and was soon initiated into the Hellfire Club, thanks to his vast fortune having caught the attention of then-White King, Ned Buckman. At this time, others that gained membership to the elite Hellfire Club were: Warren Worthington, Jr. (father of Angel), Howard Stark (father of Iron Man) and Sir James Braddock (father of Captain Britain and Psylocke). Shaw then became part of the Council of the Chosen, holding the rank of Black Bishop. Lourdes did not trust Buckman and feared Shaw's ambition and the nature of Hellfire Club would corrupt him.

It didn't take long for Shaw to rise to the position of Black King, and he began then to gather mutant associates to his side, including Emma Frost and Tessa (Sage). Unfortunately, while Shaw was replacing non-mutant members of the Council with mutants, Lourdes was killed in the coup. Shaw gathered Emma Frost, Harry Leland and Donald Pierce as the Lords Cardinal of Hellfire Club. and he changed the name of the Council of the Chosen to the Inner Circle.

Sebastian kept the mutant nature of the Inner Circle secret from the rest of the Hellfire Club. As the leader of the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club, Shaw started plans to dominate the world through force, money and power. His connections to top officials of corporations and government, acquired via the Club and through his position as CEO of Shaw Industries, made him a powerful enemy.

When Tessa Niles (Sage) was attending college, Shaw approached her and offered her a position within his Hellfire Club. It is unknown how he located her or knew of her abilities, but nevertheless, she accepted his offer and became Shaw's assistant. He was always accompanied by Tessa, his loyal and enigmatic aide, whom he grew to love like a daughter.