X-Men: The Clan Askani, Explained (2024)

by

Tim Webber

Since the X-Men formed, they have been guided by Charles Xavier's dream of a better world for mutants and humans alike—and in a distant future where Apocalypse has snuffed out hope, the Clan Askani keep the last embers of Xavier's dream alive.

In their harsh alternate reality timeline, Clan Askani saved a young Cable's life and helped him prepare to fulfill his destiny to end Apocalypse's dark reign. The Askani have even interacted with the modern Marvel Universe as part of their duty to preserve the Sacred Timeline, a never-ending mission that Cable has even failed.

Now, let's take a closer look at Clan Askani, how they shaped Cable's lifelong mission against Apocalypse, how they saved the Sacred Timeline, and how these heroes of the future interacted with the present-day X-Men.

WHAT IS CLAN ASKANI?

After Apocalypse took over the world in the late 37th century, the Askani rose up to fight him. Holding an almost religious reverence for the X-Men and Professor X, the Clan Askani—whose name translates to "family of outsiders"—developed a philosophy built around tenets like "what is, is" and "thanks for today, please for tomorrow."

Inspired by the relative peace and harmony of the "Age of Xavier," the Askani also believed in embracing fate and maintaining the Sacred Timeline through the careful use of time travel to ensure certain events occur, while preventing other events from altering history. Many of the Askani had some psychic power, which they channeled into bladed spears called Psimitars and frequently used to meditate while floating upside down.

The Clan Askani was founded by Rachel Summers, the daughter of Cyclops and Jean Grey from the Sentinel-controlled "Days of Future Past" alternate reality. After being split apart through the timestream, one version of Rachel ended up in the far future and began forming a resistance against Apocalypse, as detailed in X-MEN: PHOENIX (1999) #1 by John Francis Moore and Pascal Alixe.

Rachel—also called the Bright Lady—took the name Mother Askani and recruited Sanctity, the time-traveling mutant daughter of Sentinel creator Bolivar Trask. After Rachel died and Apocalypse destroyed the Clan Askani, Sanctity formed the Askani Sisterhood, which carried on the Askani legacy and taught much of it to a young Cable.

CABLE: THE ASKANI'SON

Cable plays a significant role in the Askani philosophy as the Askani'son, a prophesized warrior destined to kill Apocalypse. The Askani debuted when one of its members, Sister Jen Askani, traveled to the past to save an infant Cable in X-FACTOR (1986) #66 by Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, and Chris Claremont.

Recognizing that Nathan Summers would grow up to be his nemesis Cable, Apocalypse had the baby Cable infected with the Techno-Organic Virus, which began turning his body into a machine. To save his son's life, Cyclops allowed Jen to take Nathan into the Askani's future for treatment.

Although Cable briefly returned to the modern Marvel Universe as a teenager on a mission for the Askani, he spent his childhood and most of his early adult life in the Askani's future. While the Askani saved his life, they were initially not sure that they could save Cable, so they also cloned him as an infant.

The clone fell into the hands of Apocalypse, who planned to use him as his new host body. However, the clone grew up to become the time-traveling Stryfe, Cable's rival and a longtime enemy of the X-Men.

CYCLOPS AND JEAN GREY

After Mother Askani was seriously wounded in battle, she brought Cyclops and Jean Grey into the future to look after Cable in by Scott Lobdell and Gene Ha. The newly married Scott Summers and Jean Grey posed as Slym and Redd Dayspring and raised the young Nathan for several years.

Although they hid their true identities from him, Scott and Jean spent years raising Nathan as they roamed around this future timeline. Jean and the comatose Mother Askani even taught Nathan how to use his immense telekinesis to keep his T.O. Virus in check and limit its effects to the left side of his body.

With telepathic instruction from Mother Askani, the young Cable faced Stryfe for the first time and defeated him. When Apocalypse tried to put his mind into Stryfe's body, Scott, Jean, and Cable attacked him in by Lobdell and Ha.

Thanks to the betrayal of Apocalypse's servant Ch'Varye, Cable and his family disrupted the transferal process and killed Apocalypse. Just as the battle ended, Mother Askani died, and Scott and Jean were pulled back into the past, leaving Nathan by himself.

WHAT HAPPENED TO CLAN ASKANI?

With Apocalypse dead, the young Cable faced Stryfe and the New Canaanites as they tried to fill the power vacuum left behind by the mutant tyrant's death. Sanctity assembled the remaining Askani into the Askani Sisterhood as Cable gathered allies like the soldier Tetherblood and the telepathic Blaquesmith, who extracted a highly evolved alien A.I. called the Professor from Cable's body. After meeting his future wife Aliya, Cable studied with the Askani Sisterhood in ASKANI'SON (1996) #3 by Scott Lobdell,Jeph Loeb, and Gene Ha.

Although a crazed Sanctity joined Stryfe, Cable and his Askani allies formed the Clan Chosen, which debuted in CABLE (1993) #1 by Fabian Nicieza and Art Thibert. Utilizing guerilla tactics, this fighting force became the primary opposition to Stryfe's forces and the New Canaanites. Although the Clan Chosen forged a peace with the New Caananites, Aliya was killed in a bombing, and her son with Cable, Tyler Dayspring, became the twisted time-traveling villain Genesis.

When Stryfe traveled to the modern-day Marvel Universe, Cable followed him. In keeping with the Askani's dedication to preserving the Sacred Timeline, Cable needed to stop Stryfe's plans and ensure that Apocalypse's history unfolded as it did in his future.

CLAN ASKANI IN THE MARVEL UNIVERSE

Due to their dedication to the Sacred Timeline, several members of the Clan Askani joined Cable in traveling to the modern Marvel Universe. When Sanctity tried to prevent her father from inventing the Sentinels, Mother Askani stopped her to preserve history in UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #-1 by Scott Lobdell and Bryan Hitch.

Blaquesmith, Cable's old mentor and telekinetic ally, followed Cable into the past before stepping out of the shadows in CABLE (1993) #21 by Jeph Loeb and Arnie Jorgensen. Blaquesmith was initially sent to the past by the Askani to ensure Cable would maintain the timeline and carry out his mission, but he ended up advising Nathan, as he did in the future.

The Askani also made several attempts to establish sects in the modern day. After his telepathic power was disrupted, Cable retrieved his Psimitar from a hidden Askani order that had been established by a time-traveling Ch'Vayre in CABLE (1993) #58 by Joe Casey, Ed McGuinness, and José Ladrönn. Cable also tried to teach some Askani tenets to a group of female mutants called the Dark Sisterhood, but they rebelled and tried to kill him. When Cable attempted to build a nation on the island of Providence by taking over Rumekistan, he promoted Askani's ideas, but those efforts ultimately failed.

CABLE AND THE SACRED TIMELINE

After Cable shifted his focus to raising Hope Summers, he neglected his Askani duty to protect the Sacred Timeline. So, when Beast brought teenage versions of the original X-Men to the modern day, they stayed and took an active role in the X-Men's world. Despite the Askani teachings, Cable wanted them to learn from the mistakes of their adult counterparts.

However, Blaquesmith saw this would create a divergent timeline where the death of the teenage Iceman caused the extinction of mutants. To fix the timeline, Blaquesmith recruited a teenage version of Cable and sent him to the modern day, as revealed in X-FORCE (2018) #5 by Ed Brisson and Damian Couceiro. To complete his mission, the young Cable killed his older counterpart and helped the teenage X-Men return to their past.

After that ordeal left Rachel Summers vulnerable, a time-traveling Stryfe captured her in an effort to destroy the Clan Chosen in the future. Together with the modern-day X-Force, the young Cable faced Stryfe and his Mutant Liberation Army. Once the real Mother Askani saved Rachel, Cable talked her into sparing Stryfe's life and erasing his memory to preserve the timeline in X-FORCE (2018) #10 by Brisson and Dylan Burnett. After the young Cable spent some time with his family in the present, the older Cable was resurrected, and the young Cable returned to the Askani future with their timeline restored.