Externals

The Externals are a group of fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Considered a rare subspecies of mutants, most of them were X-Men antagonists. The original, unused name for the group was to be The Prophets, as seen on the back of the Sunspot & Gideon trading card included with X-Force #1. The characters first appeared in X-Force #10 (May 1992).¹

The Externals are mutants who share the ability of immortality. As expressed by Cable, they play an important role in Apocalypse's rise to power at least in one future.² Their true origins are scattered throughout history, but it is known that they all share a psychic link with each other that separates them from other immortals.³ This psychic connection allows them to not only sense each other and their whereabouts, but allows them to summon each other at will from great distances. They also can sense when one rises from the dead and when one is killed. Saul, Absalom, Gideon, Nicodemus, Burke, Selene, Candra, and Crule form the self-fashioned "High Lords", bent on playing power games and manipulating events behind the scenes.

Each External is claimed to represent an intangible concept: Absalom represents despair, Burke represents fortitude, Candra represents guile, Crule represents ferocity, Gideon represents opportunity, Nicodemus represents wisdom, Saul represents patience, Selene represents corruption, and Apocalypse represents evolution.⁴⁵

At one point, X-Men member Cannonball is declared an External by Cable after he is killed by Sauron and returns to life.⁶ His revival is sensed by the other Externals, who declare that he represents hope. However, it is never definitively stated whether Cannonball is an External. Later, Selene betrays her fellow Externals, killing them by absorbing their life forces.⁷⁸

All of the Externals who were believed to have been killed by Selene or the Legacy Virus survived.⁹ The only way of effectively killing an External is by destroying their hearts, which consequently channels the life force of the dead External into the others.¹⁰¹¹ Selene reveals she did not accomplish this deed herself because she could not handle the accompanying stress.¹⁰ It is later confirmed that Apocalypse is an External and participated in the creation of Candra's gem with Selene and the other High lords eons ago.

Following the creation of a mutant nation on Krakoa, Apocalypse rescued his first Horsemen. He summoned his fellow Externals to the Eternal Caldera on Krakoa, revealing his intentions to sacrifice some of their life energy to power the Arak Maw Gate. Selene, Gideon, and Absolom are revealed to be a part of his plan and quickly turn on their fellow immortals. With the help of Rictor, the group wipes out four of the Externals and extract their life energy to fuel the gateway to Arakko.¹²¹³

Saul and Gideon make a non-speaking appearance in the X-Men: The Animated Series episode "Sanctuary".