Spyke (Evan Daniels) is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

appearing in American comic books published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

, most commonly in association with the

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in 1970 due to lo ...

. He was created for the

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...

'' X-Men: Evolution'', and was created by writer Robert N. Skir and artist Steven E. Gordon and voiced by Neil Denis. Spyke is a high-school freshman with the

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...

ability to project spikes out of his body. The character was originally created as a way to diversify the show's X-Men roster. It was important to the show's creators, the WB network (who ran the show) and

to have an African American in the show. According to the show's producer

Boyd Kirkland Boyd Douglas Kirkland (November 4, 1950 – January 27, 2011) was an American television director of animated cartoons. He was best known for his work on '' X-Men: Evolution'' and '' Batman: The Animated Series''. He suffered from idiopathic ...

, turning

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

(the first Black male X-Man) into a teenager would not have worked.Milk: It Does a Body Good
, posted October 20, 2000, accessed October 26, 2006. He was originally intended to be called Armadillo and have cornrows. He has similar powers to Marrow, a pre-existing character, though Kirkland says this was not intentional.

Character biography

Evan Daniels was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, New York to an unnamed father and Vivian Daniels. His mutant abilities are first noticed at his high school basketball game by his Aunt Ororo (aka

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), ...

, a longtime member of the

), and his teammate Pietro. The following night, Storm, along with Cyclops and

Jean Grey Jean Elaine Grey is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character has been known under the aliases Marvel Girl, Phoenix and Dark Phoenix. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack K ...

, approach Evan's parents about his mutant powers and his attending Xavier's School. Evan angrily declines on his own behalf and leaves. He goes to his school to catch the thief who keeps breaking into his locker. It is revealed that Pietro is not only the thief, but a mutant with super speed powers. Pietro, who renames himself Quicksilver, breaks into all the lockers in the school and lets Evan take the heat while he escapes prosecution. Only when

Charles Xavier Professor X (Charles Francis Xavier) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as the founder and sometimes leader of the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co- ...

uses his pull to help Evan get out of prison does he join the X-Men and the school under the code name Spyke. Spyke settles the score with Quicksilver when he, Cyclops, and Jean defeat the speedy mutant. Spyke is cleared of all charges when he catches Quicksilver's arrogant confession on tape. During his tenure with the X-Men, Spyke didn't want any special treatment from anyone at the school because he was Storm's nephew. Though he liked being an X-Man and thought of them as his family, Spyke at times acted selfishly and inconsiderate of others. Spyke would goof around in class and on at least one occasion ditched school mid-class to go skateboarding with his human friends. He also was late for several training exercises in the

Danger Room The Danger Room is a fictional training facility appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It first appeared in ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963) and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The facility is depicted as built for ...

resulting in him getting reprimanded by Storm and causing several X-Kids to fail in their training exercise because Spyke was not there to back them up. If not for him saving Storm's life from the Hungan, Spyke would have been sent home to his parents due to his lack of concern for school and DR training. After he and the other X-Men were discovered to be mutants, Spyke grew angry at how they were being treated. After drinking Pow-R8, an energy drink that was toxic to mutants who even come into contact with it, Spyke found out he could not retract or fully control his spikes. After seeing how cruelly he was treated because of his condition, Spyke joined the

Morlocks Morlocks are a fictional species created by H. G. Wells for his 1895 novel,''The Time Machine'', and are the main antagonists. Since their creation by H. G. Wells, the Morlocks have appeared in many other works such as sequels, films, televis ...

(a group of mutants who could not "pass" for human and so were driven underground) because he wanted to fight for mutants who looked different from normal humans. Storm did not take this well and tried to convince Spyke to come back, but he refused. When Evan returned later in the series, he had mutated even further, and now most of his upper body was covered by armadillo-type bone-plates except for his face and below the waist, and with the new ability to heat up the bone spikes he creates. During this time, Spyke began using his powers to fight against humans who were attempting to commit hate crimes against the Morlocks and mutants in general. These actions eventually led to him being the target of a group of anti-mutant bigots, led by Duncan Matthews. Attacked with electrical mining guns, Spyke was cornered, but the Morlocks and X-Men stepped in and defeated Duncan and his accomplices, who were arrested by the police shortly after the battle was over. When Storm tried to persuade him once again to return to the institute, Spyke said the Morlocks needed him more and chose to remain with them. He later helped out in destroying the Pyramids surfaced by Apocalypse. Spyke is last seen in a group photo with the future X-Men, the

New Mutants The New Mutants are a group of fictional mutant superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, generally in association with the X-Men. Originally depicted as the teenaged junior class at the Xavier Institute, subs ...

and their unaffiliated allies. In this photo, he is wearing the bottom half of his X-Men costume, which may mean he has finally returned to the X-Men.

Powers and abilities

Spyke can extend or retract

bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

spikes that grow inside his body. He may shoot them out or bring them out to grab and hold. He also needs to drink milk to replace the calcium that he loses when using his powers. His body also seals the wounds caused by projecting his spikes with no visible scarring. He is also an expert

skateboarder Skateboarding is an action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. S ...

, and has integrated his skateboarding prowess into battles. In the later episodes as his mutation evolved, Spyke gained the ability to heat up the ends of the spikes, increasing their damage potential, and his strength is almost twice that of an average human. He now also has protective plates form around his body, but is unable to retract them. He also gained the ability to extend small spikes on his feet to scale and stick to walls.

Other versions

Earth-616 featured a character loosely based on Evan Daniels. David Munroe was born in New Jersey to an unknown father and Vivian Munroe (Storm's aunt). Vivian named her son David after Ororo's father, who had died too soon. Unfortunately, she later became a drug addict and eventually died of HIV, leaving young David in the care of his loving grandparents. David later met his cousin Storm when she was researching her family tree. David Munroe Jr. and his family later attended the wedding of Storm and Black Panther in

Wakanda Wakanda () is a fictional country appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Wakanda has been depicted as being in East Africa. It is located in sub-Saharan Africa, and is home to the superhero Black Panther (comics), Black Pa ...

.''Black Panther'' (vol. 4) #18. Marvel Comics.

In other media

A version of Spyke appeared in the ''X-Babies Stars Reborn'' as an evil, indestructible X-Baby.

References

External links