Piotr - Detailed Bio

Piotr Nikolievitch Rasputin was born the second son to Nikolai and Alexandra on the Ust-Ordynski Collective, Siberia in the former Soviet Union. While in his teens, Piotr's brother Mikhail became a cosmonaut and it was discovered that he was a mutant. His ability to warp energy attracted the attention of the Soviet government who staged his death to allow them to explore his powers and mould him into what they wanted to be. After Mikhail's supposed death, the Rasputins had a third child, Illyana. Deeply affected by the loss of his older brother, Piotr vowed to be there for his 'little snowflake,' as he called Illyana, just as Mikhail had been there for him. After Illyana's birth, Piotr's own powers manifested and he discovered that he could turn his body into organic steel. He used this ability sparingly, but when he did use it, it was to aid the Collective.

Piotr first used his powers in another way to save his sister from an out-of-control tractor. Transforming into steel, he grabbed Illyana just before the tractor hit her and it crashed harmlessly against him. The event was observed by Professor Charles Xavier who had located Piotr using Cerebro and had come to recruit him for his second X-Men team. At first Piotr was doubtful of Xavier's offer, but he finally agreed when Xavier made him see that his was a power that should aid the entire world rather than just one Collective. Code-named Colossus, Piotr joined with Nightcrawler, Storm, Wolverine, Banshee, Sunfire, Thunderbird and Cyclops to rescue the original X-Men from the living island, Krakoa.

Being a part of the X-Men completely transformed Piotr's life. He was no longer a small-town farmboy, he was now a superhero living in one of the biggest cities in the world. He found American culture difficult to understand and adapt to and desperately missed his home and his family. During his early days in the USA, he often visited 'Little Odessa' in New York, an area filled with Soviet immigrants. It was here that Piotr met his first love, Anya Makarova, when he prevented her kidnapping. Anya was a ballerina who had escaped to America agaist her family's wishes and her father had sent men after her to return her home. Piotr and Anya became close quickly and Piotr fell in love completely. Unfortunately, when Anya witnessed Piotr transforming into organic steel she was shocked. Although he had transformed in order to save her from her father's men, Anya believed him to be a liar and told him that a man made of steel could not have a heart. Although upset, Piotr moved on and tried to forget about Anya. His next romantic entanglement occurred during his first Christmas in the US when he briefly dated Betsy Wilford. However, the relationship never moved beyond friendship. Shortly after, whilst in the Savage Land with the X-Men, Piotr aided three women who were being attacked by a dinosaur. Although one died, the other two survived and asked Piotr to participate in a ritual to honour their dead friend. Piotr agreed but was surprised when both women began to kiss him. They explained that the tribe believed that creating a new life is the greatest way to honour one who has died. At first, Piotr refused, but eventually gave in and did as they asked. In the few months since leaving his Collective, Piotr experienced both love and sex for the first time.

When the X-Men returned to America, they were kidnapped by Arcade. During this experience, Piotr was brainwashed by someone pretending to be Colonel Vazhin, who convinced him that the X-Men were enemies of Russia. Renamed the Proletarian, Piotr attacked his teammates, only coming to himself after he had nearly killed both Cyclops and Storm. This experience, and some others, led to Piotr doubting his new life and he returned to Russia to visit his family. He gave his sister drawings he had made of the things he had seen so that she could see all of the strange things he had seen since leaving the Collective. Trying to settle back into his old life, he visited several of his friends, only to discover that many of them had been killed in the war with Afghanistan. Their experience in the war had embittered his friends who accused him of being a traitor for not being there when they had needed them the most. The real Colonel Vazhin arrested Piotr shortly after this and gave him two options - join a secret Russian programme (mutants were not allowed to serve in the army, although the general public were not aware of this) or leave the country entirely. Piotr chose to return to the X-Men, even though it meant leaving his family behind once again. Just a few days after he rejoined the X-Men, Piotr fought Proteus, the son of Moira MacTaggert, a powerful mutant with the ability to warp reality. In an attempt to weaken Piotr's mind and thus leave his body open for possession, Proteus projected images of Mikhail's 'death.' Enraged by this, Piotr killed Proteus. This was the first time Piotr had taken a life and it caused him to doubt things he had always believed about himself.

Illyana re-entered Piotr's life unexpectedly when she was kidnapped by an enemy of the X-Men. When she was freed, she did not return home, but instead lived with Piotr in America. In order to make her feel more at home, Xavier taught the team Russian and Illyana became especially close with Kitty Pryde, who often read to her at night. Sadly, Illyana's life with Piotr was far from event-free. Belasco, a demon, lured the young girl to Limbo where he planned to keep her. Although she reappeared minutes later, Illyana had actually spent seven years in Limbo and had been hugely affected by her time there. Although she refused to explain what had happened to her in Limbo, Piotr offered her all the support he could.

Meanwhile, Piotr's relationship with Kitty Pryde had been growing. When the X-Men were infected by the Brood and certain that they would soon die, their relationship intensified. Kitty asked Piotr to make love to her for what would be her first, and most likely last, time. Piotr refused, saying that he felt too strongly for her and wanted to do things properly, without the threat of death hanging over them. The pair spent the night in each other's arms. The next day they defeated the Brood and were rid of the embryos inside them. When they returned home, Piotr and Kitty decided to start dating. Things being what they are when the X-Men are involved, their relationship did not run smoothly. One night, whilst on a date, Piotr and Kitty were attacked by Pyro and Avalanche who tortured Piotr unbearably. In order to save his life, Kitty had to promise to marry Caliban, the Morlock Healer, as he was the only one who could help Piotr. Luckily, Caliban allowed Kitty to leave without marrying him. When the X-Men were summoned to take part in the Secret Wars, only Kitty was left behind. In her absence Piotr fell in love with Zsaji, a healer who was with the Human Torch. Zsaji left the Torch for Colossus, but died in the aftermath of the battle, trying to heal the injured. Returning home, a grief-stricken Colossus told Kitty the entire story and ended their relationship. At the time, Wolverine believed that Piotr had not been in love with Zsaji but had used her as a way of avoiding commitment with Kitty. Whatever the truth, Kitty left the X-Men to try to repair her life. When she returned, she and Piotr became friends, but their relationship was not as easy as it had once been.

Just before Kitty's return, Illyana, who had joined the New Mutants, revealed her mutant powers and the sorcery she had learned in Limbo to Piotr. Although surprised, Piotr promised to be there for her whenever she needed him.

During an attempt to save the Morlocks from the Marauders, Piotr killed Riptide, and was dangerously injured himself. Magneto used his powers to attempt to repair the damage and, although he succeeded, trapped Piotr in his metal form, unable to revert back to his human form. Some time spent on Muir Island completely cured Piotr, but Magneto's attentions had increased both his strength and size while in his metal form. Another side effect was that Piotr now had to concentrate deeply to return to his human form.

When the X-Men relocated to Australia and allowed the world to believe them dead, Piotr worried almost constantly about his family. He began to have dreams of Illyana being in danger and was determined to leave and find her. To prevent this, Gateway, the X-Men's ally in Australia, teleported Illyana to their base. Illyana had been in the middle of a battle with demons in Limbo, casting a spell to bring the dead back to life and was convinved that Piotr was a ghost. Not wanting to disturb her or blow the X-Men's cover, Piotr let her believe this and helped her to defeat the demons she had been fighting. After their victory, Gateway transported Piotr back to Australia, leaving Illyana in Limbo. He did not stay in Australia for long, however, returning to the Savage Land with the rest of the team. On this trip he met Nereel, one of the two women he had shared time with on his first visit. Nereel was now the chief of her tribe and proud mother to a son. Curious about the boy, Piotr asked about his father only to be told that he had left Nereel some years before. Despite this and the boy's name - Peter - Piotr failed to realise that he was the child's father. Of all the X-Men, only Longshot discovered the truth and he promised Nereel he would not reveal it.

Back in America, New York had become infected with Inferno, an aura which affected people, making them act in a more demonic manner. Unaffected and unable to help his friends, Piotr came across a battle between S'ym and the Darkchylde. He had no idea that the Darkchylde was Illyana and was so shocked when he discovered the truth that Illyana teleported away immediately, ashamed. After their meeting, Illyana cast a spell which consumed her own magical powers to save the city and its people. When Piotr saw her empty armour, he feared she was dead. Instead, she had reverted to the age of six - the age she should have been if not for her time spent in Limbo. While the New Mutants brought Illyana back to her parents in Russia, Piotr returned to Australia with the X-Men.

The team were not long returned to Australia before they began to fall apart. When Psylocke sensed that they were about to be attacked by the Reavers, it was decided that the remaining X-Men would escape through the Siege Perilous, a mystical portal which judged people and sent them to new lives according to its findings. Piotr exited the portal in a Manhattan loft, owned by Phillip Moreau and Jenny Ransome. Having lost most of his memories, he became a painter in Soho under the name of Peter Nicholas and was very successful. Romantically, he became involved with Callisto who had been altered by Masque to look like a model. Piotr was discovered by Banshee and Forge, who were looking for the missing X-Men, but as he remembered little of his powers and his past and seemed happy in his new life, they decided to leave him as he was. Piotr's new life did not last for long, however, and he was possessed by the Shadow King who used him to try to kill Xavier. Xavier discovered that the only way to separate the Shadow King from Piotr was to erase 'Peter Nicholas.' Returned to himself, Piotr first helped X-Factor and then joined the X-Men's Gold Strike Force team.

The entire Gold Strike Force team found themselves in another dimension, soon after their formation. Piotr was astonished to find the people of this dimensions calling them his saviour, having mistaken him for his brother Mikhail. While on a mission for the Soviet government after his faked death, Mikhail and his crew had vanished and turned up in this dimension. Of the crew, only Mikhail had survived and he had sealed the portal they had created on their journey. In the process of doing this, people were killed and he sought an isolated place to live where he could hurt no one, and had not been seen again until the arrival of the X-Men. With the portal open again, he returned with Piotr, working with the X-Men to seal the portal once more. Back on earth, Piotr was overjoyed at having his brother back and at the thought of telling his family Mikhail was alive. Before he could get in touch with his parents and sister, Piotr was shocked to realise that his brother was not quite as sane as he had seemed. The years he had spent in isolation had taken their toll and he joined up with Callisto, who had become just as unstable after losing the beauty Masque had given her. Mikhail became the new leader of the Morlocks, but decided that they would never be accepted, and despite Piotr's best efforts, led them all to their deaths by flooding the tunnels they lived in.

After this, Piotr's family continued to dwindle. His parents were killed by Russian agents who were attempting to recruit Illyana and use her to fight the Soul Skinner. The X-Men managed to defeat the Soul Skinner and rescue Illyana, who accompanied them back to America. Unfortunately, soon after, she became a victim of the Legacy Virus, a disease designed to kill mutants alone. Devastated by the loss of his parents, his brother, his former lover and the illness of his sister, Piotr began to question his life more and more. When he was injured in a battle with the X-Cutioner, he found himself unabl to return to human form and so, could no longer feel Illyana's skin when they hugged. Piotr foud this almost unbearable, despite the comfort that Illyana tried to give him. When his 'little snowflake' finally died, a part of Piotr seemed to die with her. He burned all of his artwork and became cold and withdrawn. Believing that Xavier's dream had destroyed both him and his family, he turned to Magneto who had been recruiting for his Acolytes, in an attempt to find a new dream to follow. It seemed that Piotr found it difficult to let go of all his ties to the X-Men, and when they raided Avalon, Magneto's base, he masked their presence from the sensors. During this raid, Xavier mind-wiped Magneto, effective rendering him brain dead. Feeling responsible for this, Piotr remained with the Acolytes. The X-Men were unable to believe that he stayed with Magneto of his own free will and tricked him into visiting Muir Island by sending him a message from Kitty, pretending to want to join the Acolytes. When he arrived, Piotr was captured and operated on in an attempt to repair the damage down to him during his fight with the X-Cutioner. The operation was successful and Piotr was able to return to his human form once again. At this point, he finally released some of the feelings he had been bottling up since the death of his family, but he still chose to return to the Acolytes.

As an Acolyte, he nursed Magneto who was still brain-dead. Despite this, the other Acolyte's neither liked nor trusted him. When Avalon was destroyed by Holocaust, Piotr took Magneto to an escape pod and the pair landed in Antarctica. Magneto mysteriously disappeared when the pod crash-landed, and Piotr was found by Callisto. It seemed that Callisto, Mikhail and the Morlocks had not been killed. Instead, they had travelled to another dimension where they had been living ever since. Time passed faster in the other dimension, however, and Callisto was now decades older than she had been at the time of her seeming death. Calliso had been forced to return to earth when a group of Morlocks, calling themselves Gene Nation, came back and began killing humans. Piotr accompanied Callisto back to Xavier's where they asked the X-Men to help. When Gene Nation were captured, Callisto took them back to the dimension they had been living in and Piotr finally came to terms with his feelings of grief and blame. Despite realising that Xavier's dream and the X-Men were not to blame for the death of his family, Piotr chose not to return to the team. Instead, he decided to visit Kitty who was now living on Muir Island as part of the Excalibur team. When he saw her kissing her new boyfriend, Pete Wisdom, Piotr was outraged and attacked Wisdom. The pair fought and were only separated by the rest of Excalibur. Both men were badly injured, leading Piotr to realise that he had made a huge mistake. He apologised to both Wisdom and Kitty and eventually joined Excalibur.

Piotr was inspired by Meggan, another member of Excalibur, to experiment with new art techniques when she asked him to paint her portrait as her wedding gift to her future husband, Captain Britain. Piotr and Meggan became close, and soon Meggan became attracted to him. Although she initially blamed Piotr, saying that she only had feelings for him as her empathy was mirroring his feelings for her, she eventually admitted she was making excuses. Having realised her mistake, she married Captain Britain. Excalibur disbanded shortly after this and Piotr returned with Kitty and Kurt Wagner to the X-Men. He kept up his art, and started to draw more and more. At the mansion he became an unlikely friend to Marrow, a former member of Gene Nation. Piotr saw in Marrow the same love for beauty that he had himself and realised that she found the way she looked repulsive. In an attempt to make her realise that beauty was more complicated that pictures of models, he sketched her to show her that she too was beautiful. This small gesture led to friendship and the pair travelled to Boston to visit an art exhibition which featured some of Piotr's work. Piotr was honoured to show his new friend his portrait of his 'little snowflake,' Illyana. While at the exhibtion, Piotr and Marrow were forcibly taken to the dimension Mikhail and the Morlocks lived in and discovered that Mikhail was actually being controlled by an outside force. They managed to free him and took him back to Xavier's to recover. Soon after their arrival, the gathering of the Twelve began. Mikhail, as one of the Twelve, was taken by Apocalypse. Piotr and the remaining X-Men travelled to Egypt to attempt to free Mikhail and the others. During the battle, Mikhail transported himself and Apocalypse's Horsemen to another dimension and has not returned.

Piotr began to show feelings for Rogue, managing to kiss her once without being harmed by her powers. Nothing developed, however, and the pair remained friends. When Hank McCoy discovered a cure for the Legacy Virus, Piotr was overjoyed, relieved that no one else would have to die the way his sister had. Unfortunately, the cure had a heavy price - it could only be activated by injecting into a mutant and would not be released into the atmosphere until the death of that mutant, just like the original Virus. A disappointed Beast began to get back to work on the cure, but Piotr had made up his mind. He could not allow any one else to die of the Virus now that a cure had been found and sacrificed himself in order to cure all of the sufferers across the world. His death was mourned by the X-Men, and particularly by Kitty Pryde who had known him since her youth. His final heroic act inspired Kitty to leave the X-Men for good and she enrolled herself in University. First, however, she spread his ashes in a final goodbye.

Recently, and somewhat shockingly, Piotr has reappeared. The X-Men, while researching a so-called 'cure' for mutants discovered that a single mutant had been used as a test subject. Although Beast told the others that a mutant was being held captive and experimented on, he did not tell them who it was and both Scott and Emma automatically assumed it was Jean Grey. Appalled, that a mutant had been taken from their grave and was being experimented on, the X-Men decided to break into the labs producing the 'cure.' While exploring the basement of the lab, Kitty wa shocked to unlock a door and find a fully armoured Piotr standing there. In her shock she reverted to her natural phased form, allowing Piotr to run through her and attack the guards shooting at her. When she managed to come to her senses somewhat, she had to prevent Piotr from killing the guards. After she had spoken, Piotr recognised her and reverted to his human form, embracing her and asking if he was finally dead.