The Phalanx are a cybernetic fictional species in the Marvel Comics universe who have come in conflict with the X-Men and related groups on several occasions. They form a hive mind, linking each member by a telepathy-like system. Cybernetics is a theory of the communication and control of regulatory feedback. ... It has been suggested that Felicia (pseudonym) be merged into this article or section. ... The Marvel Universe is the fictional shared setting where most of the comic stories published by Marvel Comics take place. ... The X-Men are a group of comic book superheroes featured in Marvel Comics. ... A hive mind (sometimes spelled hivemind) is a form of collective consciousness strongly exhibiting traits of conformity and groupthink. ... Telepathy, from the Greek τηλε, tele, distant, and πάθεια, patheia, feeling, is the claimed innate ability of humans and other creatures to communicate information from one mind to another, without the use of extra tools such as speech or body language. ...

Origins

Phalanx are formed when organic liveforms are infected with the Technarchy's techno-organic transmode virus. They then pass through a lifecycle of attempting to infect others - during which process they often go about prior goals - before eventually reaching a critical mass, at which time, following a hard-wired instruction, they build a "Babel Spire" to contact the Technarchy, who consider Phalanx to be abominations, and invariably destroy the Phalanx "nest", usually by converting the entire planet into techno-organic matter and draining its energy. The Technarchy, or Technarchs, are a cybernetic fictional species of alien origin in Marvel Comics universe, created by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkewicz. ... The Confusion of Tongues by Gustave Doré According to the narrative in Genesis Chapter 11 of the Bible, the Tower of Babel was a tower built by a united humanity to reach the heavens. ... Abomination, in general, refers to something disgusting, hateful, or extremely unpleasant. ...

Earth Phalanx

The Phalanx on Earth were initially formed by a group of human mutant-haters who voluntarily infected themselves with the transmode virus, taken from the ashes of Warlock, a renegade Technarch who had joined the New Mutants, in an attempt to turn themselves into "living Sentinels". Steven Lang, the man who had used the Sentinels against the X-Men many years before, was recruited from a mental hospital to become an "interface" - not actually infected with the transmode virus himself, he was intended as a buffer to keep the Phalanx "on track" for their intended purpose. He was assisted by Cameron Hodge, a traitorous former friend of Archangel who had obtained immortality from the demon N'astirh, who did infect himself, and who had been the one to kill Warlock some years before in a prior attempt to infect himself with the virus. Warlock is a fictional character, a cybernetic alien superhero in the Marvel Comics universe, affiliated with the original New Mutants, a mutant superhero team. ... New Mutants is the name of two comic book series, published by Marvel Comics. ... The Sentinels are a type of fictional robot in the Marvel Comics universe. ... Dr. Steven Lang is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe. ... The Sentinels are a type of fictional robot in the Marvel Comics universe. ... The X-Men are a group of comic book superheroes featured in Marvel Comics. ... A psychiatric hospital (also called a mental hospital or asylum) is a hospital specializing in the treatment of persons with mental illness. ... Archangel (Warren Kenneth Worthington III) is a comic book superhero or supervillain depending on the timeframe in the Marvel Comics universe. ...

Initially, the aim of these Phalanx was to simply assimilate mutants into their collective. When this proved impossible, as mutants possessed a resistance to the virus, they organized an attack on the X-Mansion, kidnapping most of the X-Men and replacing them with Phalanx members in disguise, in an attempt to use the X-Men's knowledge base on the mutant genome to solve the problem. Banshee, absent during the kidnapping, returned and, after discovering the infestation, recruited Sabretooth from a cell in the complex, who then aided Banshee in saving Emma Frost and Jubilee from the beings. Banshee, after discovering that the Phalanx had accessed the location of several young mutants for use in further study, then destroyed the knowledge base in an attempt to prevent the Phalanx accessing any further information. A knowledge base is a special kind of database for knowledge management and can be abbreviated KB or kb. ... Banshee (Sean Cassidy) is a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe and a member of the X-Men. ... Sabretooth (Victor Creed) is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe, and an arch-enemy of Wolverine. ... Emma Grace Frost, also known as the White Queen, is a fictional character, a mutant comic book superheroine (and former supervillainess) in the Marvel Comics universe. ... Jubilee (Jubilation Lee) is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics mutant superhero. ...

While Banshee and his group scrambled to save the young mutants, he sent messages to Wolverine and Cable on the location of the X-Men, and who in turn recruited Cyclops and Jean Grey to aid them in recovering the X-Men; and to Professor X, Excalibur, X-Factor and X-Force on the location of a third, unknown, group of Phalanx. Wolverine (Logan, born James Howlett) is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero and member of the X-Men. ... Cable (Nathan Christopher Summers, also called Dayspring and AskaniSon) is a Marvel Comics superhero, associated with the X-Men and X-Force. ... Cyclops (Scott Summers, occasionally nicknamed Slim) is a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe and the field leader of the X-Men. ... Phoenix aka Jean Grey is a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. ... Professor X (full name Charles Francis Xavier) is a comic book character in the Marvel Comics universe. ... Excalibur is the title of several Marvel Comics series, each offshoots of the popular X-Men franchise. ... X Factor may mean: X-Factor, a Marvel comic book series The X Factor (album), a 1995 album by Iron Maiden The X Factor (television series), a British TV talent search The X Factor (Australia), the Australian version of the show Factor X (uncommon usage) a coagulation enzyme X-Factor... X-Force was a Marvel Comics superhero team, featured in an eponymous monthly series from 1991 until 2002 and a miniseries running from late 2004 to 2005. ...

Banshee's group saved all the new mutants but one - Blink, who sacrificed herself to save the others. The rest of these young mutants went on to become the core of Generation X, tutored by Banshee and Frost. Meanwhile, the other mutant teams found a group of Phalanx attempting to follow their genetic instruction to construct a Babel Spire to contact the Technarchy. Douglock, a resurrected Warlock with Cypher's memories, managed to destroy the spire, while Cyclops' group assaulted the core Phalanx base on Mount Everest, where the X-Men were held, with the covert aid of Lang, who realised the Phalanx had grown beyond his ability to manipulate and were threatening the general human population, destroyed their smaller nests around the world as a result - rescued the X-Men before they destroyed the Everest nest. Blink (Clarice Ferguson) is a Marvel Comics superheroine featured in various X-Men-related series. ... Generation X was a Marvel Comics superhero team, featured in an eponymous monthly series from November 1994 until June 2001. ... Cypher is a fictional character, a superhero from Marvel Comics. ... Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth, meaning its summit is higher above sea level than that of any other mountain. ...

Operation: Zero Tolerance later used knowledge gained from this incident to create Bastion and his new breed of Sentinels.

Other Phalanx

Another group of Phalanx later decimated the Shiar throneworld in the absence of the Imperial Guard, before Beast devised a way to discorporate many of them. The rest of this group later conquered another planet, but were destroyed by the Magus after the construction of a Babel Spire. The Shiar are a fictional species of aliens in the Marvel Comics universe. ... The Imperial Guard (French:Garde Impériale) was originally a small group of elite soldiers of the French Army under the direct command of Napoleon I, but grew considerably over time. ... The Beast (Dr. Henry Hank Philip McCoy) is a fictional Irish-American comic book character and superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. ...

Attributes

Phalanx form an insect-like hive mind. While each member retains his/her/its memories from prior to assimilation and a degree of their personality, generally each member cannot perform actions against the wishes of the group mind without first being severed from the collective consciousness, as Douglock was.

Phalanx, like the Technarchy, can infect other organisms with the transmode virus with any physical contact - the only known exception being Earth mutants, who possess a degree of immunity to the transmode virus. Any organism infected by the Phalanx is automatically inducted into the group mind. // Marvel Comics In Marvel comic books, particularly those of the X-Men franchise, a mutant is a human being who is born with genetic modifications that allow for abilities not possessed by regular humans. ...

Phalanx also possess the Technarchs' abilities to shapeshift and teleport, but, unlike the Technarchs, cannot grow in size and mass without absorbing external matter. Over time, they can adapt to attack from inherent biological powers, but only to the specific frequencies/levels/etc already used against them.